WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH ! ...(not! haha, gotcha! Don't even lie and say you weren't scared.)
Tobi: ! GUYS WE GOT 150 REVIEWS FOR LAST CHAPTER I LOVE YOU ALL~ Okay so I'll make this short. secretwishes527 was reviewer number 650, Naruta13 was 700, and Cathidean was 750. Thanks guys! And thanks to all the anonymous reviewers. I wish I could reply to you guys, but I can't. So, here's one big, collective THANK YOU! Ah: please forgive any OOC on the Invisibles' parts here. They're going through some stuff, if you guys haven't noticed. So forgive them. XD
CM: hey all! so we got 150 reviews! that is colossal! dude you all rock! all my lurkers *waves* thank you for unlurking! i love you for that! and my anons! i thank you too since i cant really reply to you all. again be proud of me every one i replied to all 130ish signed reviews in a matter of 4 hours! and guess what i learned...you can only send 100 PMs per day. so i tried to send PM number 101 and it denied me! i was like WTF? luckily i had a second account that i could use...and its penname is also CloudedMirror so it was ok. i honestly think that im the only one to ever have sent so many PMs. hah! and as a side note. now that you all have read the war...are there any artists out there willing to draw for us? i know im requesting fan art ...but some scenes i would kill to see drawn out. anyone? please? and i think i replied to everyone. but if i didnt im sorry! and if i accidentally replied to you twice...sorry bout that. but its hard PMing 130 ppls. but you all are totally worth it! ok now you may read. enjoy!
Staring down at the flushed, ill face of Cloud Strife made Sephiroth finally realize the gravity of what they had done.
Tortured an innocent. Lost control. Acted dishonorably. What had they done?
There wasn't time to think about that.
Cloud was dying.
Sephiroth watched Zack's back disappear upstairs for a brief second and turned to his other two lovers. Angeal was staring at Cloud with wide eyes, guilt almost oozing out of his pores. He set his jaw though and locked gazes with Sephiroth—the ex-Commander knew what he'd have to do.
Genesis was staring at Cloud; he gave a visual shudder and took a small step back. That wouldn't do.
Going into immediate General-Mode, Sephiroth barked at Angeal, "Angeal. Get a book about peanut allergies from the library."
Angeal took off.
Sephiroth gently placed the shaking, gasping boy's head on the step and walked down a few steps to Genesis. Genesis didn't even register anything when Sephiroth called in a voice that would have made Cadets shit their pants, "Genesis!"
After trying once more, Sephiroth slapped Genesis' cheek and thundered, "Snap out of it, SOLDIER!" He needed Genesis alert if they didn't want to be guilty every minute for the rest of their lives.
Genesis finally looked at him, looking lost and broken. The redhead was most likely suffering tremendous guilt, as he had been the one to come up with the idea of giving Cloud peanuts, but they could all think about it later. Right now… they had to move.
"Carry Cloud," he ordered.
Genesis took another step backwards and shook his head mutely, pale as a ghost. Funny, that comparison was.
A look that could have frosted the sun made Genesis stumble forward and gather the frail, trembling body on the steps into his arms. Cloud's breath was quick and labored, and Genesis felt like he had hives of his own after looking at Cloud's.
"Elevate his legs," Sephiroth instructed, standing and striding towards one of the secret entrances of the lab—the closest one being a secret door on the side of the staircase Cloud had collapsed on.
Sephiroth reached out and stuck a finger in a small, almost unnoticeable groove in the wall under the steps. A small rectangle-shaped portion of drywall flipped open, revealing a tiny keypad. Sephiroth quickly jabbed in a long, complicated series of numbers. The previously-hidden door in the wall opened by itself, mechanically—and slowly—swinging open with a hiss of hydraulics.
An alarm rang out, loud enough that Angeal could hear it in the library as he frantically scanned the spines of books. But that was the point—no matter where they were in the house, they would've been able to know if Cloud had tried to sneak into the labs.
As it turned out, they shouldn't have bothered.
Sephiroth walked inside and ripped the wires out of the alarm. Genesis stumbled in after him, taking care to keep Cloud's head away from the edges of the doorway but somehow smacking it anyway.
Like he did it all the time, Sephiroth strode into the laboratory. Genesis, however, got a good look at the familiar metal table and the aged half-full tank of Mako in the corner and seized up.
Sephiroth was already pulling things out of cabinets. He sensed that his lover hadn't moved and paused for just enough time to send him a look that said, 'I know, and now is not the time. Do you want him to die?'
Cloud's gasping body was deposited on the examining table. Genesis sucked in a few deep breaths and told himself to just calm down, because he couldn't help anybody if he was panicking, but it was all his fault—
Angeal and Zack skidded into the room at the same time. Zack had Cloud's EpiPen and wallet in his hands, and Angeal carried a thick book, which he immediately opened on the low, metal counter and starting pouring over it. It was really a shame Materia didn't work on things like this.
Sephiroth announced to them all, "He is suffering from anaphylaxis, which is related to having a severe allergic reaction." He then commanded Zack, "Lower his legs. Jab the EpiPen into his thigh, inject the medication, then massage."
Zack's face was white with terror and his pretty light blue eyes were wide, but he set his jaw—ever the determined one, their puppy—and nodded.
The room was a chaotic flurry of movement. Angeal abandoned the book in favor of hooking up a heart monitor and IV. He did this with deft, sure fingers—he had learned in his time with Hojo, and even earlier with Hollander.
Genesis let go of Cloud's feet and lowered them gently onto the table. Cloud was still unconscious and limp, but he was breathing harshly through a swollen and closing throat. Zack fisted the EpiPen and stabbed it needle down into Cloud's thigh, wincing as he did so. Sephiroth pulled on Genesis's shoulder as Zack pulled the needle out of Cloud and directed him over to a clear liquid. They only had ten to twenty minutes before the effects of the epinephrine wore off.
"Benadryl," he informed him, tossing him Cloud's wallet and pulling more things out of a different cabinet. "Five milligrams for every ten pounds of body weight. No more than seventy-five milligrams total."
Genesis gave a sharp nod and began measuring out the indicated anthistimine.
The four men worked like a well-oiled machine. Quietly, effectively. Zack nearly wept with relief when the dangerous flush on Cloud's cheeks faded a little and his breathing came more easily.
While Zack massaged Cloud's thigh, Angeal bustled around making sure the vitals machines were working properly and getting the IV ready for Genesis. Genesis had measured out sixty-five milligrams for Cloud's 130 pounds as specified on his emergency card (so light?) and set it up with still-shaking fingers.
Sephiroth had a small machine in his hands. A nebulizer. They all hated them. Angeal saw that Cloud's heart wasn't beating erratically and went back to reading the book.
After explaining absently as he worked that the medicine that they would mist to Cloud was called albuterol, Sephiroth bent over Cloud and fixed the little mask in place. Cloud breathed in, letting out a small, soft, pained whimper afterwards. The four men froze, and Zack actually stopped breathing for a second. But Cloud's eyes stayed closed, and he didn't make another noise. They were tempted to sag on the floor with exhaustion now—because with luck, Cloud was getting better, even though he looked so small and hurt and tortured and sick lying there—but they couldn't.
Angeal was back at the book now, fingers twitching as he read. He started fishing through cabinets with just as much vigor as Sephiroth had earlier. Zack switched the albuterol with oxygen once all the medicine had been administered, getting a brief nod from Sephiroth for his insight.
Genesis was getting impatient. Was Cloud going to die? "One-eighty systolic? Sephiroth? What do we do now?"
"I'm on it," Angeal replied, opening a new syringe.
Angeal drew an antihypertensive into the syringe. It would help to lower Cloud's blood pressure some and soothe the inflamation in his lungs. Cloud would be able to breathe more easily, with luck. He approached Cloud, Genesis and Zack moved aside for him, and he stuck the new needle (with more grace than Zack's wild stab earlier with the EpiPen) into Cloud's thigh.
After that Angeal absently threw the syringe in a rusted, old metal trashcan in the corner. All four crowded around the table, pressing close to Cloud and refusing to look at one another.
Angeal glanced at the heart monitor. The erratic heartbeat from before had already calmed some, but it was still too irregular for comfort. His blood pressure had also come down considerably.
"…Now we wait," Sephiroth said quietly. According to the book, they had to wait for a second reaction. Cloud should have been in a hospital, not on a torture table being treated by the ones who had almost killed him—
There wasn't time for that. There wasn't a hospital in Nibelheim; by the time an ambulance came from a bigger town nearby Cloud would already be dead.
Minutes ticked by in silence, each of them paying close attention to Cloud's every movement, every labored breath. But before long, Cloud's breathing went back to almost normal, and he seemed to relax a little in his unconscious state.
He would live.
All four sagged. Zack actually slumped to the floor, panting a little. Angeal gave a helpless little chuckle, removing the oxygen mask and brushing Cloud's damp, messy bangs off his forehead.
Genesis gazed at Cloud for a minute, well aware what had almost happened. His eyes widened before narrowing to slits and he swept out of the lab, slamming the secret door shut behind him.
Cloud's steady breathing was calming. Sephiroth sat in a metal stool a few feet from the bed, tense and ready to fly into action if there was a sign that Cloud's condition was worsening. The room was silent, save for the steady soft blip-ing of the heart monitor and the occasional rasp or cough from the boy.
He ran a hand through his hair, staring at the floor. The other three had left the room a while ago. He probably should have been worried about them, and he probably should have been comforting them somehow, but for once, he didn't know what to do.
It would have been an understatement to say he was embarrassed.
He was deeply ashamed. Since birth, he had been raised to be perfect. He was calm. He analyzed everything to determine the best and most effective outcome. His emotions—even though he was not supposed to have any, according to Hojo—were never supposed to cloud his judgment.
He had been an exquisite General.
Now, he was a disgrace. A failure.
Cloud mumbled something in his sleep, and Sephiroth slowly rose from his seat. He leaned over the bed, looking down into the blond's strained and haggard face.
It pained him to see the bluish yellow bruise marring the boy's cheek. How many times had they hit him? Pushed him down the stairs? Threw things at him? Sephiroth hadn't been keeping count, but he feared the number.
Now that he knew the truth, it was painfully obvious that Cloud had been innocent. He was a little bit too clueless, a little bit too 'dumb.' And that 'war' of yesterday! Cloud had honestly been trying to fight them even though there had maybe been a point zero zero one chance of success.
He still had questions, of course, (like why Cloud had mako that one time, though it was a possibility that he was just looking at it) but he could wait for his answers.
Sephiroth spent a minute looking at Cloud. A weight dropped in his stomach at the sight of Cloud's hands. They were scratched and crusted with dried blood.
Sephiroth gently picked up the hand to inspect it. He could see small shards of glass embedded in the flesh and he vaguely remembered how the brave little blond had climbed through the window when they had locked him out. His stomach churned.
He hardly ever said it, but he thought it was needed. Sephiroth leant down enough that his bangs pooled on Cloud's neck, chest and face and whispered into his ear, "I am sorry."
Stepping back, Sephiroth went back to the cabinets and pulled out some cotton, a small brown bottle and small sterilized tweezers. He went to a different cabinet and looked for a small basin for water, a soft cotton cloth and bandages.
Putting the materials on a small, rolling table, he carted it over to Cloud's bed. He dipped the cloth in the warm water and began washing Cloud's hands. He made sure not to stretch the boy's injured hands out too much; he had already been put through more pain than was ever necessary.
After he was done washing away the dirt and blood, Sephiroth carefully pulled out all the glass shards. He wet the cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide and applied it to the injured palms and knuckles.
As soon as the chemical touched the broken flesh it began hissing and foaming angrily at him. Sephiroth cringed when Cloud whimpered softly and tried to pull his hand away.
When it had been properly cleaned, Sephiroth bandaged the hand and went around the table to do the next. He knew that a couple bandages would never make up for what they had done to the poor boy, but right now it was the least he could do. ...If Cloud never forgave them, he wouldn't blame him.
After an hour, when Cloud was no longer at risk, Sephiroth disconnected everything carefully. He scooped Cloud up, taking care to keep him comfortable. He took a step towards the door, but paused. There was something in Cloud's pocket, the one near his knee—Cloud was wearing some kind of cargo pants and had pockets everywhere.
Sephiroth's heart broke as he pulled out a short, sharp knife.
Had they really been that awful?
Yes, he thought sadly, gently placing the knife on the counter, we were.
He carried Cloud out of the room and back into the main part of the mansion. He laid Cloud on his bed and placed Sebastian on the pillow beside his head after seeing a tuft of yellow sticking out of a dresser drawer.
He ran his fingers through the resting boy's hair, trying to soothe him a little. They had pulled and yanked on his hair how many times? Sephiroth's heart ached. He drew away and took several steps back.
He gave Cloud a last, sorrowful look and left the room.
Ouch, ouch, ouch.
Zack's thighs burned and shook, but that was okay. He didn't bother wiping the sweat on his forehead away, and he had to blink rapidly to keep it out of his eyes.
He had been working out for the past... he couldn't remember. Probably a while.
Zack dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups. His arms were shaking; how long had he been doing this? It took a hell of a lot to make him tired.
Then he was up again, doing squats. He lost himself in the motions and in the controlled breathing. If he stopped, he would start thinking. He didn't want to think right now.
Crunches. Zack's abs were screaming at him, but he ignored them. He deserved the pain. He counted to two-hundred and flipped over, doing push-ups again.
He was on the tennis court. His clothes and hands were stained green by this point, but that was the least of his worries. Angeal had been walking around near the house earlier, but he didn't see him anymore. He wondered what his tallest lover was doing.
More squats. Zack breathed deeply to cope with the stitch in his side, but it wasn't really working. Not that he cared. His eye stung as sweat dripped into it. Zack kept the squats going.
Anger was the only thing he felt when his legs gave out. He lay on his back for a while, gasping and coughing and trying to get his breath back.
He more or less calmed down after a couple of minutes (the benefits of Mako!) and stared up at the sky. It was a pretty blue—very few...clouds...in the sky...
The whole point of his working out was to distract himself. Now that he was still, he couldn't put it off any longer. Zack spread out, hearing some sort of bug scuttle around near his head; he ignored it.
Alright, so they had fucked up. Badly.
...What had he been thinking? Zack cringed as he remembered all the things they—he—did. He had slapped Cloud. Beat him up. Made him cry, more than once.
The sounds of crying made eight-year-old Zack poke his head out the front door. It was hot in Gongaga that day, and he had been lying in front of a box fan, reading a comic. The heat hit him in full force now that he was outside, but he had more important things to think about.
A small boy—maybe five or six—was on his knees on the ground, crying into his hands as a group of slightly older boys jeered at him.
Zack processed this in an instant and then was running straight for the kids. He skidded to a halt between the felled boy and the others, holding his arms out.
"Leave him alone!"
The boys (who Zack recognized as kids in his grade at school) looked confused, then laughed at him.
"Move, Zack," said a boy on the left.
Zack frowned. He glared at them when they tried to get closer and repeated himself. "Leave him alone!"
The little boy on the ground sniffed and looked up at Zack with wet, admiring eyes. Zack caught it and turned back to the bullies, feeling empowered.
"Zack!" one of them grunted, annoyed. Zack was well-liked by everyone, and that might have been the reason why the boys weren't attacking—not just yet, anyway.
Standing so the little boy couldn't see, Zack flashed the bullies the middle finger. Hah! He had known what that meant for years; these boys looked shocked.
One whispered to another, "That means...?"
"Yeah! Danny told me that!"
"No, it means..."
Zack waited patiently, and when the others worked out what insult Zack was giving them, they charged him. Zack gladly fought. It was rough and dirty—four versus one—but Zack was driven by the need to protect that poor little kid. He punched Timmy right in the stomach and shoved David so hard he fell, scraped up his knee and started bawling.
Two hits connected; one on Zack's collarbone, and another on his arm. He shrugged the pain off though, easily taking care of the other two boys.
When it was clear Zack had won, he barked, "Take a hike! And don't lemme catch you bothering people again!"
With angry mumbles, the defeated boys dragged themselves home. Zack turned and held out a hand to the kid on the ground.
"T-Thank you," he said quietly, staring at him like one would a professional Chocobo racer or something.
Zack grinned. "Hey! No problem." he smiled, glanced at the other boys as they walked away and made a face.
"I hate bullies."
"Me too," the boy—Kenneth—sniffed.
Zack gave Kenneth a little push towards home and said, "If you're ever in trouble again, lemme know. I'll scare 'em away again for ya."
That night, Zack's dreams were full of himself saving people from bullies—a real hero. That's what he'd be when he was older—one of the good guys that never, ever let evil win.
"Hey!" the SOLDIER First barked. The guilty party froze, knowing they'd been caught.
Zack briskly strode towards the scene, boots banging and echoing in the otherwise-empty hallway.
A Cadet was standing against the wall before the group of bigger, stronger Cadets. The gratitude in his eyes almost made Zack smile, but he covered it up and frowned sternly.
"Cadets!"
All of them stood at attention. Zack turned his angry gaze on the troublemakers. "My office, 1900 hours!" They nodded, and he growled, "Get the hell out of my sight."
The almost-victim started to scurry away too, but Zack grabbed his arm.
"Hey man, you alright?"
The Cadet nodded.
Zack gave him a serious look and said, "Don't let them push you around." People had to stand up for themselves in this world—and especially in Shin-Ra's world. It was his job as a Commanding Officer to make sure these kids grew, could be strong and be SOLDIERs themselves someday. He had a feeling this kid would make sure he wasn't put in the same situation again.
The Cadet gave a solemn nod, saluted, mumbled 'thanks' and left. Zack watched him go, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He walked away, whistling.
Zack swung the bloody sword onto the harness on his back, too exhausted to clean it. He was covered in dirt and monster blood, and the villagers seemed to really like that. They were cheering for him.
He tiredly waved at the people as he approached. They cheered and swarmed him as he entered the village, touching him and patting him on the back.
"The monsters are gone," Zack laughed; everyone seemed to have gotten that already.
One girl kissed his cheek (Sephiroth's expression when he told him about it was hilarious). Another girl told him flat-out that he was her hero, after protecting the town like that.
He blushed and scratched his head. He supposed that... now he was. He was a real hero now, capable of saving people and protecting the innocent. Smiling widely at the girl, Zack's heart swelled and he nodded.
It was a nice thing to know.
Sprawled out on the tennis court, Zack felt like he was going to throw up.
What happened to me?
Even as a kid, he had known what he wanted to be. A hero. That was why he had joined SOLDIER. And what was he now? He was just as bad—no, worse—than a group of little bullies or a gang of bad Cadets.
Cloud... the poor kid... innocent! Innocent! The guy had moved there, been blackmailed by Tseng to stay there, and had been tortured by them.
Zack wanted to go apologize to him over and over and over and give him a hug and apologize some more. But Cloud was asleep right now, recovering. They had almost killed him.
They were definitely the bullies, now. Zack snorted at his own understatement. They were fucking invisible. The poor kid couldn't even fight back properly. All other bullies that Zack had encountered were at least confronting their victims head on. And what had they done? They snuck around and used the kid's weaknesses against him.
Pain shot through Zack's stomach. How... had this happened?
Zack felt like he was drowning. He took several deep breaths, not able to breathe. It didn't help, though—nothing would right now.
Cloud wouldn't want to forgive him. He didn't deserve the forgiveness, either.
Zack curled into a ball, staring dully out at the mountains. ...What would his parents say, if they could see him now? Their bright, nice, happy son. The one who stood up for his friends. The (now dead, or so they thought) SOLDIER. The hero.
Zack grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut. I am... the worst.
For a period of his life, Angeal devoted every spare moment to 'working' with Sephiroth. The man had been showing signs of a depression he wasn't even aware of ever since things in Wutai had really started to heat up.
He kept saying the same things over and over: "We aren't monsters, Sephiroth."
To his relief, Sephiroth seemed to lose that dark look in his eyes. Genesis' own special brand of cheering-up had the General smiling daily.
No matter what Hojo said to them, no matter how many people they killed in Shin-Ra's honor, and no matter how different, how odd and tinkered-with the three of them were, they were not monsters. Sephiroth had always been fond of calling himself that.
Zack had then entered their already-unconventional relationship, and Angeal was so happy to have such a bouncy, energetic, fun man with them. Sephiroth's mood improved again. Zack was silly but was more than capable of being strong and serious, and he fit right in.
They were 'unique,' that was for sure. But Angeal had managed to convince Sephiroth that they were perfectly fine that way. Still, he readily offered his lover reassurance when he looked like he needed it.
Now, Angeal was the one who needed reassuring.
He was on his knees in the mulchy dirt of one of the extravagant flowerbeds around the outside of the mansion. He had a handful of pink yarrows in his hand. He had lovingly cared for them and the rest of the flowers in the garden, saying in his mind that he was helping create life and was taking care of something precious and fragile—how could he ever be anything but human?
Angeal clenched his fist and ripped the yarrows out of the earth.
He flipped backwards onto his butt and stared at the remaining flowers.
There was never in the world a bigger hypocrite than he.
Wasn't he always talking about his honor? 'Protect your honor' had been his fucking mantra back at Shin-Ra!
Protecting his lovers had been his main priority. But when had 'take care of the threat' become 'haha, he's in pain! Let's make him feel more!'
If anyone was a monster, it was him.
He should have known better. Why hadn't they performed a background check or something? It made sense that they had thought Cloud was a scientist, but immediately hurting him? Torturing him! Angeal had never tortured anyone before in his life—he had flat-out refused Shin-Ra when they tried to send him on a mission where he had to extract information 'through any means necessary.'
When up against the Buster Sword, your death was quick. Drawing things out wasn't his style.
But... look at what he had done to Cloud! That poor, poor boy. His hand tingled; he had tried to strangle Cloud with it!
Angeal leant forward again and pressed his forehead and hair into the dirt. He sat up after a few seconds and blindly reached out, ripping handfuls of his precious flowers out the ground and throwing them in every direction.
His rage wasn't directed anyone other than himself—he was the one to blame here—he had been the one to completely lose himself and be blinded by his hatred for Hojo...
Angeal grabbed and tore, getting sprayed with dirt but not caring. The roots futilely tried to cling to where it was safe, but his enhancements let him easily destroy (see? He was a fiend! All the times he had tried to assure Sephiroth he shouldn't have talked—he was the awful one, out of all of them).
When a good portion of the once-beautiful garden was sufficiently demolished, Angeal stopped. Mulch and dirt was everywhere, splattering the side of the house and caked in his clothing.
His skin crawled and felt too tight for his body, like he was being squeezed. Angeal panted, everything he had ever known about himself proving to be a farce.
MonsterMonsterMonster—
Angeal stood and stumbled towards the back of the house. Everything burned, from his breath to his skin to his heart.
He jumped—but it was more like fell—into the pool. The water was somehow bitterly cold, numbing him but not taking care of the burning all over.
MonsterMonsterMonster—
He had always prided himself on his levelheadedness and how he always did what was right. But now...
Angeal shivered and shook. He didn't try to warm up, though, standing in the pool with his freezing clothing sticking to him.
How could he look at that poor boy again?
How could he look at his lovers again?
...I'm so sorry. I failed you all.
Angeal stayed in the water for a long time, not moving even when it grew dark and his lips turned blue from the cold.
Having someone to pull his hair back would have been really nice, Genesis thought bitterly as he heaved into the toilet. Copper strands were stuck to his sweaty face and were in his eyes, and it was more than a little irritating.
Genesis' stomach clenched and he vomited again. He was dressed in only his underwear and a t-shirt, as he had shed the pants earlier (they had been too constricting, too much, and even now he felt like he could explode—).
He was not in a good mood. He was in a very, very bad mood. He was throwing up, shivering and falling apart, and he didn't know why. He hadn't had a cold or anything recently, and...
The real reason was strikingly obvious, bu he didn't want to acknowledge it. If there was one thing Genesis Rhapsodos had, it was his pride.
He didn't say he was sorry. He didn't regret anything, because he was a SOLDIER and was smart and strong and didn't have to.
But...
Genesis's fingers clutched at the toilet seat, and he puked again. It burned; he was running out of things in his stomach and a bit of stomach acid was starting to come up.
...Alright—he could come to terms with this. So... Cl—Strife—was...innocent.
Innocent.
Genesis thought about that. This meant that...
Well, it meant that Cloud was innocent. It meant that everything they had done to him, thinking that they needed to be rid of him and had to protect each other, had been for naught.
Cloud wasn't a scientist. Cloud wasn't there to kill them. He had beat this man up for no reason.
I'm not the one to blame!
Genesis threw up again.
Really—he wasn't! Cloud had had it coming to him, being a relative of Hojo's and all. And he had Mako that one time! What was he supposed to think? Anyone else in the world would have done the exact same thing, had they been in his shoes.
How was he supposed to know that Cloud would have such a... violent reaction to peanuts, anyway? It had all been in good fun—Cloud had been a threat, and he thought that if he made him a little sick, he'd finally leave them alone.
It was far more than making him 'a little sick.'
Genesis curled his fingers around the cool porcelain and gave a clogged sort of hiccup. What the hell was he doing? Was he really such a brat that he was incapable of accepting the blame for something?
Sometimes, Genesis really hated himself.
No... No, it wasn't Cloud's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault that he had gotten out of control—just like in his old spars with Sephiroth—but... his.
His fault.
That was the truth, wasn't it? He was the one who had hurt Cloud the most. It seemed his fiercely protective streak had been a bad thing, or at least for Cloud it had been.
He was the one to blame—not the other three. Him.
Genesis flopped back onto the floor, pressing his burning cheek against the cool floor. He felt lighter, less ill, more at ease.
But incredibly guilty, too.
At least his body wasn't beating itself up anymore. He had admitted it to himself, and he felt better. Sort of.
Flushing the toilet and standing, Genesis spat twice into the sink and left the bathroom. He didn't really know where he was going, but his feet eventually led him to a familiar room.
...Shit.
Cloud was lying in bed, still asleep. He suspected that Sephiroth had brought him up from the lab—after the boy's recovery seemed likely, he had stomped off and had sat on the roof until being driven down to the bathroom so he could lose his lunch out of self-disgust. Angeal and Zack weren't in the house, and he didn't know where they were (He remembered seeing Zack stomping around outside, though. Poor Puppy; Genesis wished he could be with him right now).
Genesis crawled onto the bed and hovered above Cloud, gazing down.
"Aww… I made him cry," Genesis cooed nastily, actually on all fours directly above Cloud.
He choked on his own spit, guilt tearing a painful gash in his gut. Cloud looked helpless and sad and so beat-up lying there like that, and Genesis felt nothing but hatred for himself.
It wouldn't do for anyone to come in and see him like this, half-naked and probably looking like he was about to kill the blond. It wouldn't do for Cloud to wake up and feel the choppy, shallow breaths on his face and freak out.
He had to leave.
Genesis swallowed thickly and got off the bed, moving carefully so that he didn't wake Cloud up with his movements. In the doorway he turned around and stared at Cloud. His stomach felt better, but nothing else did. Genesis left.
"Hey! He's waking up!"
Cloud's return to consciousness was not very pleasant. Usually he woke calmly and nicely, gently waking and lying in bed blissfully for a few minutes before getting up. Today, however, he opened crusty eyes and was nearly blinded by the sunlight streaming in his window.
He felt...bad. Achy. Gross. And...sore? He was exhausted and pulsing with some faint phantom pain, especially in his right thigh.
If Cloud had been able to see the four men that were leaning over the bed and were inches away from his face, he would have been even more alarmed than he already was.
The Invisibles quietly commented on him to each other, taking in the still ill-looking face and apparent tiredness. They were grateful Cloud's unenhanced ears couldn't hear what they were saying.
Sebastian was on the pillow next to his head; Cloud hugged his friend and rolled over onto his side.
What... had happened?
When had he gone to lay down? Cloud's mind was spotty—he didn't remember much. He remembered the war just fine, and he remembered his failed attempts to make friends with the ghosts. He remembered calling Aerith and.. what?
He felt sick and his nose was running. Cloud was warm and cozy under the covers with Sebastian, but he needed to get a tissue. He got up stiffly with a groan and rubbed his eyes.
The house was dead silent, and Cloud's harsh breathing as he stumbled down the hallway seemed exceptionally loud. Cloud tripped and almost fell into the wall once, but Zack, eyes wide and sad, gingerly let Cloud bump against his side and gently righted him with a push to the shoulder. Cloud didn't even notice.
The sight of the toilet made Cloud's whole body tremble. He managed to drop to his knees before his breath caught and he threw up. The spikes in his eyes were gently pulled back, and a warm hand rubbed his back soothingly. Cloud was too busy and sick to realize this, and that was probably a good thing.
Genesis and Angeal glanced up at Sephiroth, who was frowning. "Withdrawal symptoms," he said after a moment. "They should go away soon."
They nodded, and when Cloud seemed to be finished gently extracted themselves. Genesis carefully let Cloud's hair flop back in his face and backed away without a word.
Cloud sat on the floor for a few minutes, panting and willing the dizziness to go away. He stood eventually, brushed his teeth, splashed some water on his face and flushed the toilet with a grimace. Then he teetered back to his bedroom, grabbed Sebastian, and tentatively went downstairs.
The atmosphere in the house was less oppressive than it had been... had been ever, really. It was weird, and so Cloud didn't relax. It was day zero, wasn't it? Right? Was something supposed to happen? And now that he thought about it, what was time was it? He was all messed up.
Cloud spotted his phone on a couch in the parlor and collapsed onto it. He hugged Sebastian and glanced around the room, at the paint blobs on the walls.
Sephiroth's fist clenched discreetly at his sides. There Cloud was, cuddling a stuffed bird and sitting 'all alone' in this big, hostile mansion—he really felt disgusted with himself. Now that they knew the truth, it was easy to tell Cloud wasn't evil at all.
His cell phone buzzed and lit up. The battery was almost dead and it said that he had—holy crap, fifty-four missed calls? And all from Aerith!
"Hello?" Cloud answered, coughing a little.
"This is my fifty-fifth message, and I swear that if—Cloud?" Aerith seemed shocked and was silent for a few seconds, then yelled, "You scared me, hanging up on me like that after you... just—just-!"
"Aerith! I'm fine," Cloud assured her. ...When had he hung up on Aerith? He couldn't remember.
"You better be!" She sounded pissed, and Cloud winced.
"Yeah. Um-" he coughed again and fell victim to a fit of sneezes.
"And you're sick! Dammit, I am going to kill you, Cloud! Stay still! Don't do anything stupid! I'm coming up there—in fact, I'm leaving as soon as I can! Okay? Don't argue with me! I don't want to hear your excuses! Expect an earful when I get there!" Aerith frantically hung up.
Cloud's mouth fell open. That was seriously the first time he had heard Aerith curse. But... she was coming here? Why?
His gaze landed on the small bag of food on the floor, and he remembered.
The freak-out of his. The hives, stomach pains, and throwing up. His passing out! Cloud sprang off the couch and checked his arms. They were smooth and normal-looking, but his hands were all bandaged up. He knew he hadn't done that.
A quick read of the ingredients confirmed what Cloud already knew—there weren't peanuts in the Chex Mix he had been eating. Which meant...
The Invisibles winced. It seemed Cloud had finally figured out what had happened.
Cloud skittered away from the bag. He was... alive! He hadn't made it to his EpiPen in time! He was supposed to carry it all the time, but he had left it in the bedside table like an idiot. He should have been dead. What had happened?
He remembered whoever had shown up right before he passed out. Who were they? Where were they now? Why hadn't he woken up in a hospital?
So many questions. One thing was for sure, though... his ghosts had tried to kill him. Cloud was terrified.
Hurry up, Aerith. I need you.