Despite the tension, Cloud managed to grab some solid shut eye—no dreams of being a wolf and climbing mountains to meet gods. It helped that he slept wrapped up in Sephiroth and breathing in the scent of his silver hair. They'd been on the move, without showers, for nearly a week yet it still smelled good, like safety and acceptance. Where he had tucked himself into the General, Yazoo had used him as a pillow with Zack on the other side as a blanket, or maybe a pro-active teddy bear. Cloud smiled at the mental image because it sounded so much like the First.
Cloud knew Tseng had been up part of the night talking to Vincent, trying to convince the older man to come back to the Turks—unsuccessfully—because he'd heard them at least once during the night. Despite the lack of sleep, neither one looked any different than they ever did: contained, deadly and in complete control. Maybe it was a Turk thing.
Breakfast was cold. Nobody wanted to risk the smell of heated food wafting its way out of the tunnel and making some DGS grunt curious. Zack ate like it was ambrosia, or as he said only half-joking, his last meal on earth. The rest of the group ate purposefully, solidly chewing and swallowing, knowing they'd need the energy it provided. To Cloud it tasted and felt like wet cement. It seemed like hardest thing he'd ever done was to finish the meal pack—the second hardest would be keeping it down long enough to be digested—but even he knew that was ridiculous and melodramatic. He'd survived Hojo's labs, even if just barely. He'd survive one cold breakfast.
"That was horrible," Tifa said with a grimace as she carefully rolled up the empty container and stuffed it into her pack. "I don't remember them tasting that bad." Tifa looked like she'd had a rough night. She wasn't dragging or yawning, but the circles under her eyes were dark and there was a permanent frown making lines between her brows.
"They're always indigestible before a big fight," Zack said with a laugh, "Sawdust in flour paste." He was shovelling in a second MRE.
Sephiroth frowned down at his third container, "I thought they always tasted like that."
Zack snorted and nearly choked on his food. "Seph, what did I tell you about warning a guy when you're about to make a joke?"
"That it loses its impact." The comment was said with a look of feline satisfaction for the First had used the exact same phrase back in Shin-Ra after pulling some prank on his CO.
Zack stared at him in stunned disbelief which only deepened the General's satisfaction. Then he laughed, softly but deeply and real. "When we get out of here I'm going to have to be careful, aren't I?" the First asked with a hint of anticipation.
"Very."
Yazoo looked between them, bewildered. His mouth was open. "Don't ask," Tseng advised. With a glance at the Turk, the teen shut his mouth and went back to his breakfast.
Cloud didn't know whether to be more relieved at Zack's casual assurance that they would survive, or the knowledge that he wasn't the only one having a tough time swallowing down breakfast. Whatever caused it, he felt lighter and easier, and more than ready to get this started.
It didn't take them long to reach the end of the tunnel and the entrance to the base. It wasn't sealed, which they'd already guessed from the noise and lights, but there were bars, thick and heavy, blocking access to the corridor beyond. They weren't very far apart, just enough to stop the average human from sliding through. Looking at them, Cloud figured only Yazoo and Vincent would fit in between, maybe Tseng. Although, he took another look at the Wutaian, the Turk would probably lose a layer or two of skin. There was no way the rest of them were making it.
"It's a maintenance corridor," Tseng announced unnecessarily. They could all see the neatly labelled pipes and panels.
"That explains why it's empty," Tifa said brightly. "Doesn't solve the problem of getting into it, however." And it was a problem. The bars weren't set into a frame like a door. Instead, they were embedded into the rocks. There were no locks, no hinges, and no way through. Nobody was supposed to use this path ever again.
"Gonna punch this one out for us?" Zack teased Tifa, who was testing the bars, pulling on them with increasing force and having absolutely no luck moving them. She didn't respond verbally to his taunt, she just hit his arm instead. "Ow," he muttered, rubbing it.
"Baby," she responded unsympathetically.
"I think this barrier is mine," the General said as he stepped forward. He examined the bars, the rock, and the hallway beyond. He held up his hand for silence and Cloud figured he was listening for enemy forces that might hear what he was about to do. He found himself focussing on his own hearing but there was nothing... nothing but the imaginary sound of the others straining their ears to listen too. Cloud had a sudden image of them as cartoons, all leaning the same way, each with one ear stretching into different shapes. Vincent's would be one of those old-fashioned hearing horns. Zack's a radio tower. He'd get a wolf ear of course...
"Cloud, I need you to hold these bars." Sephiroth's voice jerked him out of his daydream. Maybe he wasn't quite as rested as he'd thought.
The General indicated two bars set a little deeper into the cave. "It's possible that it will take longer for someone in the corridor to notice that they are missing." Cloud holstered his sword and grabbed on to the bars as told.
"Dip your head a little," Sephiroth ordered, so he did that too. There was a sleek whoosh sound above him and the bars grew warm under his hands. "Step to the right and be prepared for the weight." Again, the blond soldier did as he was told, except this time he saw Sephiroth make the swing. Even if Cloud had known what Sephiroth was planning before he did it, he wouldn't have worried. When it came to the silver-haired warrior and Masamune, Cloud had absolute faith.
Masamune was a legendary sword, as much a part of the General's myth as his hair and his coat. Nearly two metres in length, it should've been completely unusable. No one knew who had forged it, or where or when, just that Sephiroth had shown up with it a few months after Shin-Ra had presented him to the world and it had been part of him ever since. That familiarity was how he managed to slice through the same two bars—only those two—and stop his swing before the blade touched the young soldier. Yazoo made an awe-filled 'ooh' sound. Tifa's gasp was more fear-filled than anything, as if she'd thought he would miss the bars and hit her childhood friend, but the swing was clean.
Cloud grunted as he felt the weight of the metal fall on him—they weren't just ordinary steel—then Zack was there taking one and putting it on the ground carefully, soundlessly, even as Cloud did the same for the one he still held.
"If we leave the backpacks, we should be able to fit through," the General commented. He needn't have bothered. Tseng was already sorting out the essentials—potions, materia, ammo—and ditching the rest—tents, towels, extra clothes.
Five minutes and they were sliding through the bars into the deserted corridor.
"Recognize anything?" Zack asked Yazoo. The clone shook his head.
"This is a maintenance tunnel," Tseng said, "He would have had no reason to come here."
"If we can find an outlet, I may be able to access their system, find a map," Sephiroth suggested.
They looked at the nearby walls... no computer station in sight. Zack sighed. "Until then, left or right?" he asked. They went left, and at the first intersection, left again. Zack suggested that they 'mark' these tunnels like they had the others, but was outvoted with extravagant groans. He was also punched by Tifa, but he was getting used to that and just grinned at her in response.
They were lucky that the corridors were mostly deserted. They only crossed paths with a couple work teams and had plenty of warning, so they ducked into empty spaces. At this point, so early in their exploration, Cloud knew that it made more sense to hide than to fight. Fighting, maybe killing people who were supposed to report in occasionally, only raised alarms. Tseng and Vincent were disgusted at how easy it was for them to slip by.
"How can they not notice seven people—most of them quite large—skulking in the dark? What kind of security training are they getting?"
"Knowing Hojo, he probably picked them for their ability to hear nothing, see nothing and say nothing," Vincent responded, "but it's still inexcusable."
"Unacceptable in such a high level facility," the Turk agreed.
Zack rolled his eyes and Cloud had to smile; he just hoped all the enemies they encountered were so clueless.
There was a door at the end of this hallway, with a little safety window. The General peered through it before giving a small hum of dissatisfaction. Cloud figured he couldn't see as much of the outside corridor as he would like.
Sephiroth knew they would be safer in the maintenance halls, but it was unlikely they would find any access to Hojo's lab or DGS's lair in them. They had no choice, he decided, and opened the door. The emptiness was a little anticlimactic, but since it couldn't last, Sephiroth would allow himself to be grateful. He had studied the old blue prints of the original facility, built nearly sixty years before, so he took point. He'd already noticed several discrepancies—the maintenance areas were far more complex indicating a much larger facility than originally planned—but the essential structure probably remained. If he was right then they should be encountering an elevator in the next corridor.
"An elevator," Zack exclaimed. "Excellent."
"Except for the fact that it's a little tiny box in an externally controlled environment that likely has a security camera in it," Vincent said repressively. "It's a moving trap and I can't recommend using it."
"Not the elevator," the General agreed. "But they rarely monitor the shafts and those often connect to more interesting areas."
Zack grinned and jerked his thumb at his CO. "What he said."
Cloud was already at the doors. "How do we get in?"
"We need to find the override," Tseng said. "If we use force an alarm will sound."
"It's there." Yazoo pointed his chin at the sign giving the current floor's information.
Tseng walked over to the hidden panel, removing a small tool from an inner pocket. Within seconds, he'd removed for the cover plate and was examining the wiring. "Hmm," he grunted shortly. It was the only sound he made and the only indication that he might have trouble hot-wiring the door. Of course, Zack knew that with a Turk, 'trouble' was a relative word. Three, five minutes tops, and one of the doors was sliding open with a soft 'whoosh'. The little light on the card-key reader stayed happily green.
Cloud poked his head over. "Wow," he breathed. "That's a long way down."
"What's the matter, Spike, afraid of heights now?" Zack teased as he sauntered over.
"Not even close," the blond replied. "It's just that it looks like there's mako or something at the bottom."
At that statement, the dark-haired SOLDIER leaned his head over the edge. The bottom of the shaft was bright, far brighter than man-made lights could account for, but it wasn't mako. "I don't know what that is, but the colour's wrong for mako."
"It could be a variation," Cloud suggested. "Something new."
Zack stared at his friend in horror. "Well, aren't you the cheery one." Tifa snorted.
Sephiroth strode to the opening and looked in. "We won't find out what's down there by staying up here," he stated firmly before swinging over to the ladder recessed into the wall. They heard the faint clang as his boots moved on the metal hand-holds.
Tseng was next, "We only have a limited time before the door re-closes. I suggest we hurry."
"Right, flyer next then a faller," Zack ordered. It was Cloud's turn to look at his friend in horror. Bright blue eyes glinted in humour. "So we can catch them if they do." Vincent was already through the opening and heading down. Tifa, after giving Zack's arm the obligatory punch for his crass remark, swung in next. Cloud followed his childhood friend and Yazoo followed him. Zack was last. He made one last sweeping glance over the hallways, making sure no one had spotted them and that their exit from the upper area was as safe as possible. He almost waited too long. The big First had to jump into the shaft from the corridor because the elevator door started to close while he was still at the other end. He was a blur that flew to the far side of the space, bounced off the wall with a shuddering thud, only to end up five rungs up from Yazoo on the ladder as if he'd planned it.
He grinned down at the silver-haired clone. "I'm totally awesome, right?"
"If awesome is another word for insane..." was Cloud's comment. Zack graciously ignored both it and the muted chuckles from Yazoo and Tifa because they had a long way to go and bickering, he decided nobly, wouldn't make it go any faster.
"And thinking out loud will?"
Ah, fuck.
The glow at the bottom wasn't liquid mako, Cloud was relieved to discover. It was just the lights, weird, icy blue flowy lights, but just lights. Tseng was working on the door which was locked from the corridor side. From the way he was humming, they had a couple minutes.
"This feels the same as those creatures at the air field," Vincent stated. He was standing underneath one of the lights, staring at it. "Mako and some other elements."
Yazoo came up beside him. "It's the mixture Hojo used to create the Tsviets, or very similar. I remember some of the scientists discussing the colour change."
"It would explain why their armour glowed blue. It was mako powered," Zack commented in passing. Once Tseng had the door open, he and the Turk were going to do a quick scout of the outside area.
"Is there any way to disrupt the bond?" Sephiroth could sense the mako energy within the light tubes. It resonated within his body, making his blood sing. It reminded him of standing next to a group of SOLDIERs.
"I, I don't know," Yazoo confessed. "I don't remember them discussing that." Sephiroth nodded his acceptance. It had been a thin hope at best, but considering how unconcerned Hojo and his staff had been about being overheard, it had been worth asking the question.
"Corridor's clear," Zack announced, poking his head back in. "Tseng thinks the main labs and command centres are to the right."
"What do you think," the General asked.
Zack shrugged. "There seems to be more activity down there. I think he's right."
"Very well," the General agreed. Tseng's logic was always impeccable but sometimes, Sephiroth trusted Zack's instincts more.
They moved down the corridor, steps nearly silent on the uncarpeted surface. The hum of machinery was louder here; machines working to circulate the air, run the lights, power the computers and the laboratory equipment. There was also a low-level hum, like a current in the air. It made Sephiroth's hackles rise because it was both familiar and not. It was the sound of experimental subject moaning in pain, suffering in back rooms and ignored by all but their fellow subjects. He grew up with this sound. He'd made that sound.
He didn't realize he was growling until Cloud stepped up beside him. "You picking up anything, Sir?"
It could've been an innocuous question, a way of distracting him from his anger, but Cloud's eyes were tense and alert and there were frown lines between his brows. "You feel something, Corporal?" Sephiroth tossed the question back at the NCO.
Large blue eyes flicked up at him. "Yes, Sir. A pressure, like someone's trying to whisper in my brain." Cloud searched the bleak hallway for an explanation. "Maybe a lot of someones."
His comment brought forward a memory, of a time when Sephiroth had heard someone in his brain like a hum. Nibelheim. Before Hojo's defection, and when Cloud Strife was just some nameless grunt assigned a mission to his hometown. The General had... felt something in Nibelheim, recognition and a pull toward the old mansion. That pull had led him to the basement and shelves upon shelves of book purporting to be about his creation, his purpose. Most had been false but Sephiroth hadn't been able to see that because there'd been this pressure on his mind; a voice, whispering that he was special, he was destiny personified, he would be great.
This wasn't quite the same as that, but now that he was aware of it, he could feel the similarities.
"Zack," he called out to the SOLDIER who fell in beside them. "What are you feeling?"
They'd all come to a halt, wondering what was up with the General. Now they waited for Zack's response. The big SOLDIER closed his mouth and then rubbed his head in thought. "I've got kind of a headache." He rubbed his chest. "My lungs feel tight."
"Like you're under pressure?" Sephiroth asked.
Zack nodded, eyes wide in realization. "Yeah, it does kinda feel like that."
"Tifa, would you please touch Commander Fair." Tifa raised a delicate brow in surprise, but did as requested. Everyone saw Zack relax. His shoulders fell, his face smoothed out... He even managed a small bounce.
"That feels better," he said without thought then. "Oh shit. This is like Nibelheim three years ago: Jenova yakking at you and Cloud able to block it."
Cloud disagreed. "I can feel it."
"This time you have Jenova cells in almost equal amounts to the mako in your system. Yazoo, can you feel it?" The clone nodded. Without asking, Tifa put her hand on his cheek—his long, form fitting coat didn't leave much skin bare. They didn't have to ask if her touch stopped the hum. They could see it in the way Yazoo's eyes widened and his mouth formed a silent 'O'.
"Jenova's dead though, right?" Zack pointed out. "Cloud disintegrated her back at that underground city. That was her, wasn't it?" He turned to his blond friend who shrugged in reply. "Shit."
"It was her," Sephiroth reassured them on that point. "However, Hojo injected her cells into many things, and if they react as they did in SOLDIERs then they can communicate with each other. Perhaps even act like a hive mind keeping her presence alive."
"So she's like an insane, immortal ant?" Zack quipped but not happily.
"Who can maybe use all those cells to regenerate herself," Tseng stated flatly. All eyes turned toward him, reflecting various degrees of horror or outrage. "There are theories. Some researchers think it might be possible." Tseng's gaze caught each of them in turn. There was no apology in the Turk's eyes. "Most don't think it's very feasible."
Somehow, that wasn't reassuring.
Their luck held. The base was large enough and complex enough that they could usually hide from enemies wandering the hall. The few times they couldn't dodge they managed to dispose of the bad guys quietly, without setting off any alarms. They'd be found eventually, Cloud knew, because that's just the way it worked. Luck never stayed good.
He was following behind Tseng when it happened. They entered a large chamber, empty and high-ceilinged, with no cover and no obvious purpose.
"Why does every bad guy's lair always have a room like this?" Zack whined. "I ask you: does this room make sense?"
"It certainly makes your voice echo," Sephiroth growled repressively.
Something about the way the General said it made Cloud tense up. Or maybe it was something else. He scanned the room, looking up into the gloomy heights and down through the grated floor into dark, unknown depths. He couldn't help it, he sniffed the air searching for the scent of danger. "I think we need to get out of here," he said responding to... something. "We need to go now."
Tifa and Yazoo turned to look at him, but Sephiroth pointed toward a door on the far side. Zack said, "Right," and Vincent just started to run. It didn't take long for the others to start running as well, trusting in the instincts of their comrades.
They were too late.
A dark, blackish-purple cloud came swirling out of nowhere. It flowed over the flooring and wrapped itself around the young clone. When the smoke moved on, Yazoo had disappeared.
"Ifrit's steaming hells!" Zack swore before being engulfed by the thick mass.
"Zack!" Cloud yelled helplessly. "Sir! We're losing people." Sephiroth had already stopped. There was more of the unnatural smoke in front of him. It moved toward the silver-haired warrior, but Sephiroth shifted out of its path.
"It's one of the Tsviets," Tseng announced. "We've heard of this ability, but had never been able to verify it."
"Tifa's gone." Cloud stated, forcing his voice to stay calm.
"So you have no idea where it's taken Yazoo or Commander Fair." It wasn't a question, but Tseng confirmed it anyway. The General was still dodging the swirling clouds. There were three dark masses now.
"It's got Tseng."
"There's only one way to find out where it's taken the others," Sephiroth declared.
"Seriously?" Cloud asked in surprise. Vincent merely grunted.
"Very," the General said.
Cloud swallowed, but nodded acceptance of the order. The next time one of the swirling balls of smoke came for him, he let it surround him. It was beyond dark. It was like living Darkness, solid and real. It was pressure on his mind and his soul, pulling him through his awareness into a void. It was like that place, Aerith's garden, where he'd been both weightless yet more real. Except this air felt clingy and draining, not invigorating, not alive.
Cloud struggled to open his eyes. He'd already tried scenting, but he could smell nothing. When he finally managed to get them open, he could see very little. There was grey light, but it was mostly blocked by that same thick, purple-black fog. He tried listening, stilling his breaths and tilting his head. He suddenly and fiercely wished to have the hearing his wolf DNA could've given him. As hard as he tried, it wasn't his ears that revealed the location of his friends, it was his whole body. He could feel them.
Jenova cells at their finest...
Moving through the fog was like breaking a path through a snow drift: slow and hard. Each step was a struggle, muscles burned and lungs strained, but Cloud knew it was worth it because he could sense the bond between the Jenova cells getting stronger and that meant he was getting closer.
He practically stumbled over, a small, silver-haired figure in form-fitting black. Yazoo had folded in on himself, unconscious or hiding. Cloud reached out a hand and touched the young man on the shoulder. Yazoo jerked in response, awake and ready to defend. Cat-slit eyes glowed with the mako he was drawing on. Then they dimmed as he recognized his assailant. "Cloud," his deep voice almost quivered with relief.
"Come on," the Corporal ordered. "Let's find the others." Somehow it was easier with two of them. The air didn't seem as thick and unforgiving. They didn't seem so isolated and lost, even though they were.
It didn't take them long to find Zack, plodding through the fog without his usual zeal. He was carrying Tseng over his shoulder. "Completely out," he explained shortly. "Hey, Sprite, you hanging in there?" Yazoo blinked at him, dazed, but did manage to give a small reassuring smile.
Sephiroth appeared, black mist swirling and parting in front of him. "There you are," he said as if they'd merely wandered away in a store. Only someone watching him closely would've noticed his eyes flare in relief. Cloud wondered if his eyes had done the same thing.
"All we're missing now are Tifa and Vinnie," Zack swung around and Cloud had to bend away to avoid getting hit by Tseng's head.
"Can you feel them?" Cloud asked the First.
Zack finally put the Turk down, although he was careful to keep in contact with the unconscious man. He turned his head and Cloud could tell that he was listening with more than his ears. Finally, the big First shook his head, "Not picking up anything."
Vincent's alterations are completely different from the ones used on us," Sephiroth commented. "He has no Jenova cells."
"Really?" Cloud was surprised but when he thought about it some more it made sense. They may have wings and other mutations, but from what the doctor had said, no SOLDIER ever had a completely new being inside them and Vincent had four.
"But I think I can sense him," the General continued as if Cloud hadn't spoken. There was a small frown marking his brow.
"It's worth a shot," Zack said, his small amount of patience already worn thin. He was already bending down to grab Tseng to toss him over his shoulder. "Anything's better than waiting here in this muck."
"Is he breathing?" Yazoo asked.
Zack twisted to that the Turk's head was close to the young clone. "Why don't you check?" So Yazoo did. He put fingers on the large artery in the neck, able to feel the steady pulse through his gloves. He even leaned forward to listen for the steady in and out.
When the four of them starting moving it was only natural that Yazoo would follow behind Zack, but this place made him nervous and groggy and he didn't like it. He was sure he could see things—people he'd known—gliding through the fog just out of sight. He slipped his weapon into his hand, reassured by its familiar weight. It wasn't enough. Thankful that his brothers weren't here to see his cowardice, he grabbed onto the SOLDIER's belt with his free hand. It didn't even make Zack miss a step. Which was why, when Zack did pause, Yazoo nearly smashed his nose into his back.
"Shit, it can't be." One beat, two, "Sir, did you see... Seph?"
That didn't sound good. "Zack, what is it?"
The SOLDIER ignored his soft question, striding forward and calling out for his friends. His voice didn't echo, it wasn't even muffled really, it just sort of fell to the ground without penetrating anywhere. Zack kept calling, kept moving until he just stopped. Yazoo was more aware this time so he didn't run into the SOLDIER. He very carefully slid his grip around on the wide belt until he stood beside the First. "We've lost them?"
Zack sighed and dropped the Turk to the surface, once again carefully keeping a foot in contact with vulnerable body. "Fuck! I just took my eyes off them for a second."
"Can you sense them," Yazoo asked. "With the Jenova cells?"
Bright blue eyes scowled at the swirling mass before turning to gaze down at the clone. "I'm sorry, Yazoo." He shook his head.
"We should wait here then. Sephiroth could sense us last time."
Zack managed a small smile, "Sounds like a plan. Got a deck of cards?"
Before Yazoo could ask him what he meant they heard a voice through the fog. "I'm sure ... something over ..." It was Tifa's voice. Somehow the mountain girl hadn't passed out like Tseng. Her voice sounded groggy, but that could've just been the fog.
"Tifa?" Yazoo called, his deep voice carrying easily. He saw Vincent's brass gauntlet first, gleaming in the dark, then the brooding gunman.
"Yazoo?" It was Tifa, blinking heavily and hanging onto Vincent's cloak the way he was hanging onto Zack's belt.
"Thank the fucking gods," Zack whispered before raising his voice and greeting the others in his usual loud, cheerful tones, but Yazoo knew that he heard stark relief in the SOLDIER's voice.
"What is this stuff?" the dark-haired First asked, waving his hand through it.
"It is that from which chaos was born." Vincent intoned.
Zack stared at him. The ex-Turk was, just from his appearance, inclined to the melodramatic but that was a little over the top. "Wait, you mean chaos as in... Chaos, as in—"
"As in my resident demon, yes."
"Okay, that's a lot less emo than I thought," Zack said with relief. Tifa snorted and Yazoo's smile widened. "So this is some weird mako-like thing, right? It has the same feel, kinda." He barely waited for a response before asking a different question, "Why isn't Tifa affected? Tseng's out like hibernating bear." Tifa blinked at him and Zack noticed that her pupils had all but eclipsed her irises. She wasn't completely unaffected then. It made him feel better because he knew he was feeling somewhat stoned.
She pointed a floppy finger at her head. "It's the ribbon."
Huh?
"The ribbon I found at the Cetra ruins," Vincent explained, "It seems to have some protective powers."
"Oh," weird, Zack thought. "Cool."
"Where are the others?" the gunman asked. He had his arms wrapped around himself like a bandage and Zack wondered if it helped keep Chaos under control. If it did, he was all for it. One encounter with that guy was enough.
"They were right here, but we paused and they disappeared," Yazoo explained in his soft bass voice, talking over Zack's babbling. "We're hoping that Sephiroth will find us again... because of the Jenova cells."
One dark eyebrow quirked up, barely visible under Vincent's long hair, it was obvious he didn't understand. It was Tifa who nodded, loosely like she didn't have complete control of her neck, but at least it showed comprehension. "It should work," she agreed. "Doctor Imeera talked about how Jenova cells are attracted to each other."
"That explains the SOLDIER Effect," Zack said enlightened. He'd always wondered why every SOLDIER ever made reacted to Sephiroth they way they did. Even testosterone-laden homophobes would get hard when the General really laid on the power.
"I didn't need to know that," Vincent said repressively. His clawed fingers tapped out an angry rhythm on his sleeve.
Zack really really needed to learn how to control his mouth. "How long will we have to wait, do you think?"
"Not long at all." The voice was smooth and cultured and nothing like the General's silky baritone with its military cadence.
"Aw shit," Zack scowled. "It's another one."
Cloud refused to look into the swirling mass that surrounded them. It was full of people that he'd known once. Known, but hadn't really liked. There was Mr. Bannerhoff, Nibelheim's self-proclaimed grape expert. He'd once twisted Cloud's arm so hard his whole forearm had bruised. There was Sergeant Zannerling, his DI at basic, who'd screamed at him that he'd never be a SOLDIER and he should start building up a clientele, because the only thing he'd be good for was sucking cock. He recognized others as well. They were taunting him, repeating the things they'd said so many years ago. He was pretty sure they were dead. He was pretty sure all the figures appearing in the ugly cloud were dead, which was why he was keeping his attention on Sephiroth's broad back.
Not that long ago, he wouldn't have been able to ignore them. Each harsh word, each contemptuous look, would've made him flinch and collapse in on himself. One thing surviving Hojo's lab had taught him was that the people he cared for the most, and who cared for him, were the only people whose opinions mattered. And they were all here; the General in front and Zack behind. Everybody else could kiss his mutated ass… not that he'd ever say that, of course.
Unconsciously, he reached out with that awareness he'd developed of Zack's presence—a necessary skill for separating friend from foe when you couldn't move, couldn't blink, and couldn't scream.
Zack wasn't there.
Zack wasn't there.
"Sir!" He didn't turn. He kept his eyes on the General, unwilling to risk losing him too. "Zack's gone."
He stayed as he was, facing the General, while Sephiroth turned to look behind them. Cloud knew, just by the frown, that his hunch had been correct. "When did you stop sensing them?"
Cloud flushed. "I don't know, Sir. I just now realized that I couldn't feel him anymore."
"Hmm." It wasn't condemning, but it may as well have been. They were lucky to have hooked up in this mess once; twice would require intervention from the gods. "I am sensing something, but I'm not sure if it is Zackary or Vincent or something else entirely.
"It's probably better than waiting here for whatever," Cloud said. He wasn't entirely sure that was true, but he wanted out of this ugly fog and the bleak memories they were evoking. He wasn't worthless. He wasn't.
"I agree. This fog masks too much." Sephiroth's frown didn't lighten when he looked down at the Corporal. He held out his right hand. "If you would, Corporal, I don't want to lose you too."
The statement was tactically logical, but there was a little something extra that had the mountain boy's cheeks filling with colour. He put Second Tsurugi back in his harness and gripped Sephiroth's hand in his. He was probably safer with the General on his left than he'd ever be with two blades anyway. "Ready when you are, Sir."
The silver-haired warrior allowed a small smile to ghost across his lips, and Cloud could see that the frown had eased. "Let's go see what we can find then, Corporal."