Another Side, Another Story
Celestial's Last Order
I'm here without you, baby, but you're still on my lonely mind.
I think about you, baby, and I dream about you all the time.
I'm here without you, baby, but you're still with me in my dreams,
And tonight it's only you and me…
"Here Without You" – Three Doors Down
Part Two: Cloud
"ZACK!"
It was like his world was slowly falling to pieces before his eyes. Cloud watched his best friend, his brother, his anchor in the world fall as the sniper's bullet connected. There was nothing to be done. No time. That didn't stop him from dropping the heavy Buster Sword in his haste and running towards Zack.
I can make it, we can heal him, he has to be okay……
"Nii-san!" Kadaj's shriek cut into his thoughts. He whirled, seeing SOLDIERs that had come up the hill from behind while they had been watching Zack. Yazoo grabbed his brother, silver hair swirling around his face as he backed into a tall tree with Kadaj clinging to him. Loz punched a SOLDIER in the face, shattering the visor into the man's eyes. He went down howling in pain. Loz tried to keep the SOLDIERs away from his brothers, but was eventually hit over the head with the end of a gun, knocking him out cold.
Cloud tried to run back to them, but was brought to a halt as his head spun. Damn his fever to the lowest pits of Hell! His vision blurred, and through the haze he saw SOLDIERs pulling Kadaj from Yazoo's grasp. The younger boy screamed and struggled and fought until another man in a medical coat walked up. The man pulled a long needle from his coat, giving the violent child a sedative to make him sleep.
Yazoo's reaction was almost unbelievable. The middle brother raised his voice louder than he had probably ever screamed in his life. A pain-filled shriek rent the air, screaming harshly, "Not again! Not AGAIN!!! We WON'T go back!!!" He tried to pick up the fallen Buster, but its' weight proved too much. SOLDIERs grabbed him, finally subduing the angry teen. Yazoo continued to scream as he was thrown into one of the trucks, one shriek sounding decidedly like, "RENO!"
Cloud swayed, trying to remain upright, but fell to his knees. The last thing he heard was the sound of a helicopter far in the distance, before the world closed in around him and he knew no more.
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Pain. Pain and fear and suffering. What was real? Was there an existence outside pain? He thought there had been, a long time ago. Almost two years and six months…
At least he was no longer in that awful Mako tube. They kept him there for almost two years, experimenting. Needles of Mako, serums, experiments…… and something else.
Cloud thanked all deities up there that they had finally had the heart to put him in a cell, rather than that tube. It had been torture, pure and simple. Cloud finally understood why Sephiroth despised Hojo so much. The man had been tormenting him for two years, and enjoyed every second of it.
The entire time Cloud was imprisoned in the Mako tube, a perpetual mantra ran through his head. Zack is dead. Must live. Must avenge my big brother. When he managed to sleep, he had horrific dreams. They started out kindly enough, with him and Zack and Sephiroth just being a family. Even Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz would be there. Then the three youngest would disappear, Sephiroth's eyes would glow green as he stabbed Zack, and Cloud would awaken screaming to another day of endless torment.
But as the days turned to weeks and the weeks to months, the dreams became less clear. The three children were no longer in them, and when he woke, he only remembered an unnamed terror as Sephiroth stabbed his older brother, whose name had faded into the haze of Mako-poisoning. Finally they had faded entirely, leaving Sephiroth and an unnamed shadow to represent his brother, whose only distinguishable feature was his softly glowing violet eyes.
The one thing he was aware of was the people who walked past the cell door. Through the Mako-poisoning, he could tell that there were always four of them. One scientist, another guy, and two teens. He had no idea who they were, but heard them go by once a week, regularly as clockwork. He had begun using it as a sort of calendar, counting the weeks, until he had two years and six months.
It was one day, two weeks since he had made the mark for two years and six months, that it happened. His Mako-poisoning had receded that day. The group was going by as usual, when one stopped. Cloud faintly heard a click, and then the footsteps moved on, a voice calling, "I had to tie my shoe!"
He sat for a long time, wondering what it could mean. Through the Mako-haze in his mind, it occurred to him that it sounded like a lock being opened. He got up, moving to the door and giving it a push.
It swung open into the hall with a light creak. Cloud looked down the dimly lit hallway, illuminated only by the bare lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling. There was no sign of his mysterious savior. Wondering at the good turn his luck had abruptly taken, Cloud stumbled into the hall, only thinking, Freedom.
He wandered down the hallway, completely lost. He realized that it didn't help if he didn't know the way out. As he passed another door, he pondered going through it or up the stairs. He opted for the stairs, staggering up them and praying no one would find him. The door at the top opened before he reached it, though, and a tall figure blocked the way.
Cloud froze, staring up at the man in horror. Oh, god, he was going to die. The man started down the stairs towards him, and Cloud braced himself. But he only steadied him, helped him stand, and asked, "Are you leaving?"
Cloud blinked up at this person, startled, and nodded. The man nodded once in response, and began helping Cloud up the stairs. Cloud finally got his mouth to work, and mumbled, "Why?"
"Because. You must do what I cannot. I will help anyone out of this living hell that I cannot escape myself."
Cloud closed his eyes against the light as they made it outside. He hadn't seen the sun in two long years, or more. The man looked at him, before asking, "Are you well enough to leave this place?"
"Yes. Where am I?" Cloud managed.
"The Shinra Mansion, in Nibelheim."
Cloud reeled. Nibelheim? But Nibelheim was supposed to be ashes, a black stain on the face of the world. Yet, as he looked down from the top of the hill that the mansion stood on, the town seemed to be functioning as if nothing had happened. "But it burned…"
"Shinra rebuilt it, populated it with actors to make it look like nothing's wrong. They learned their lesson after Coral." the man from the mansion said. "Go. Do not stay in this Shinra trap. Run far away. Midgar, Junon…. Wutai, even. Just disappear, until Shinra ceases to search for you." Cloud nodded. "Then farewell." The man turned in a swirl of crimson; vanishing back into the mansion, and it suddenly occurred to Cloud that he hadn't asked for the man's name.
With a sigh of regret, he started down the hill to begin his long trek back to anywhere other than here. Midgar. The city called to him, like a long-lost memory. It was as good a destination as any.
Five months later, after traveling a long way, through the wild from Nibelheim to Costa del Sol, across the sea to Junon, and far across the way to Midgar. At last, he stood on a hill, staring at the city, feeling inexplicably sad. Something had happened to him here, but he couldn't remember what. But now, after three long years, the city he remembered once calling home beckoned him back again.
Home? Is that what this is? It's all so fuzzy. I don't really remember this as my home. Nibelheim, though even those memories are blurry, is where I was born. Where I lived, until the fire. That man said that Shinra rebuilt the town, so no one would realize what had happened.
I can almost see Midgar, in my mind. Parts of the slums. A flash of pink. My oldest brother, Sephiroth, betrayed me here. He killed someone important to me. It hurts, that I can't remember! Why can't I….?
I'll find him. I'll bring him back, and if I can't, he'll die. He'll die for what he did to me and the person I cared for. But…… I almost don't want to remember. These past three years… The memories are fading. I think it's the Mako. But I don't want to know what happened to me. I don't want to remember the pain of torture or of losing that person. He died for me. I know he did. And I couldn't save him. I don't deserve to remember him, if he cared for me. I let him die. I messed up.
A mistake is not a crime, right? Or is it all my fault?
VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII
Li: And so the guy in red shows up again! Anyone want to spare a guess for who it is? (snicker)
One more to go!