The Planet's Enemy: Chapter 11
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ff7_fanfictionTitle: The Planet's Enemy
Author: Ebonrune
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Possible swears and violence
Disclaimer: I of course, do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the compilation. That pleasure belongs to Square-Enix.
Status: Complete
Summary: It's been half a year since Omega was sent back to its rest and everyone has moved on with their lives. As Cloud and his friends soon discover however, the past refuses to remain buried.
Author's Notes: This story occurs post Dirge of Cerberus and makes references to it, as well as Crisis Core, the original Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children Complete, and Before Crisis--a game released on cellphones only in Japan. As well, I've chosen to use the fan names (according to the Final Fantasy wiki) for Cloud's various swords, since they don't have official names and 'Tsurugi' is Japanese for 'sword'. As the swords are not labeled which is which on the wiki, here's the picture for your reference.
Prequel: Ties of Friendship
Chapter Links: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen
Zack had never thought of himself as a poetic person. While he was a romantic at heart, poetry was more something Genesis apparently took interest in and while Zack knew Loveless from reading it years ago, it hadn't resonated with him. Beholding the perfection in front of him now however, he was sure he could come up with something.
"Beautiful...." He breathed.
Cloud shook his head and sighed. "I've never seen anyone get so dewy-eyed over a sword before." He commented, not knowing if he should be disturbed or amused. The Chocobo Fair was still being set up, so Cloud had decided to give Zack a tour of the Gold Saucer. When he'd brought Zack to Battle Square however, the sword had caught his eye and now he seemed infatuated with it.
The weapon in question was two inches short of the Buster sword and was also thinner, broad at the base but tapering to a sharp tip and it had a short but thick handle guard which held a materia slot on each side of it. It was a sleek design to be certain, but Cloud wouldn't have called it beautiful. Then again, for him a sword was merely a tool. A tool you relied on to keep you alive and therefore one that should be well cared for, but still a tool. Zack however, clearly did not agree with this sentiment.
"It's a beautiful sword!" Zack told Cloud. "Besides, I need my own." He motioned to the Buster sword on his back. "This is Angeal's and it's going back to him....oh, but he'd rejected it the last time I tried to give it to him." He paused for several moments, drooping slightly before he suddenly perked up again. "Well then, I'll give him that sword until he feels worthy of the Buster blade again!"
"You'll have to win enough Battle Points first." Cloud pointed out, already taking out his wallet to give Zack the 10 GP entry fee. "It says it costs 15,000 BP, but you're SOLDIER so this will probably be easy for you." He was about to hand the GP over, but then paused with a frown. "Oh, one more thing." He put a hand to his left arm to draw out his Curaga, then his right to pull out Ultima. "These will help too."
"Isn't Ultima a bit overkill?" Zack asked, accepting the materia all the same to put into the slots on the Buster blade.
"Maybe, but you have eight matches to get through. If you get the 'Magic Broken' handicap you're screwed on that match anyway." Cloud sighed. "Wish I had a Ribbon to give you...." He muttered.
"Wow. This is going to be really tough, isn't it?" Zack's eyes were starting to glimmer in anticipation of the challenge.
Cloud couldn't help but smile slightly and handed over the GP Zack would need in order to enter. "It might say 'The Brave Do Not Fear the Grave' over the door, but don't get knocked out. You'll lose all the BP you've earned if that happens. If you find yourself in too much trouble without the energy to cast Curaga, then forfeit."
"Gotcha, Coach." Zack was bouncing on his heels a bit. "Anything else?"
"They'll explain the rules to you before you go in." Cloud told him, feeling almost like an older brother in the face of Zack's youthful enthusiasm. He handed over a couple of Hi-Potions as a last resort and motioned for Zack to go over so he could start his battles, then he stood back to wait. If Zack got through all eight battles, then he could easily earn the sword on the first runthrough. If he got done quickly enough, they'd probably get back in time to watch some chocobos being unloaded for the Fair too.
Cloud smiled slightly, going to lean against a wall. No matter how old Zack got, he seemed just the same as when Cloud had first met him. Cheerful, enthusiastic and if a little morose at times, those moments tended to be brief. Zack was not a person prone to dark moods, and that made him a real relief to be around.
And Aerith sent him back. Cloud frowned a little. He hadn't exactly had the time to ask her at the Forgotten City, and she certainly hadn't seem surprised to see Zack there. But if she had sent him back, did that mean that she'd planned this? That she'd meant for him to find the relic? If that much had been intentional, then did that mean she'd known about Sephiroth the whole time as well? Even if she had, she hadn't told Zack. But if she'd meant to send Zack back....
Cloud put a hand to his head. This line of thinking was giving him a headache. How much did Aerith know? Unless he went back to the Forgotten City and got her attention, or she came to him in a dream he had no way of asking. Fenrir was still on the Squall, so he had no way of sneaking off--and his friends would throttle him if they caught him anyway.
Cloud sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. There was no point worrying about something he couldn't get the answer to, so he'd just doze a little and catch up on the sleep that Zack's early morning routine had robbed him of.
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Sephiroth stepped into Hojo's lab, expression impassive and bored as if all he wanted was to get his reason for being there--his monthly 'treatments'--over with so he could get on to more important things.
In reality, he was terrified. The injections wracked him with pain, usually to the point where the most he could manage was staggering through the back hallways of the Shinra building back to his room and collapsing there, then being incapacitated for hours afterward--at best.
Hojo looked at him, his lip curling when he noted the purposely relaxed posture, the bored expression. This was why Sephiroth did it, why he had cultivated this expression when dealing with the shrew of a man. For Hojo, fear seemed to equate respect and as soon as Sephiroth had figured that out, he had decided he would never show fear in front of him again.
It was true that not showing his fear likely made it worse as Hojo would attempt to torture him into fearing him, but Sephiroth had a measure of the man and he knew that no matter how badly it all hurt, he was Hojo's precious project and the slimy bastard would never do anything that would permanently damage him.
"Remove your coat." Hojo ordered as he prepared his instruments, laying them out in plain view for Sephiroth to see. Another ploy at intimidation and Sephiroth's gut knotted even as he obeyed, undoing the clasps at his wrists so he could remove his trenchcoat and lay it aside. He then stood there, waiting.
Hojo looked at him again, his beady eyes flicking to Sephiroth's shoulder-length hair. He probably would have spit if it wouldn't have made things unhygienic. For the first fifteen years of his life, Hojo had made sure Sephiroth's hair had always been kept short in a buzz cut, but ever since Sephiroth had been released into the barracks three years ago, he'd been working on growing out his hair, trimming and styling it until he'd achieved what he wanted. Now he had every intention of letting it grow, possibly as long as it could get, and this along with Sephiroth's apparent lack of fear and obvious contempt made Hojo furious.
"Lie down on the table." Hojo snapped, annoyed that Sephiroth had--again--waited for him to instruct him rather than just doing what he knew was expected. Sephiroth moved to obey, even though his insides felt like they'd all collected in his abdomen in a messy ball. He lay down on the table, but once more he was obstinate by laying his hands across his stomach casually and putting his legs outside the restraints. Even in his fear of the procedures, Sephiroth swore he would always defy Hojo in every way that he could. No matter how much it hurt it probably wouldn't kill him, and if it did....then he wouldn't have to suffer these treatments anymore or fight against people in a war he didn't understand.
Hojo stepped over, taking Sephiroth's arms and legs and all but slamming them into the restraints. Sephiroth smiled grimly, not resisting. Yes, Hojo was in a fine temper today. He could take some kind of satisfaction from that. He hated the man and was openly contemptful of him, and Hojo hated him for the lack of cowing obedience and slavering adoration that he seemed to think Sephiroth owed him.
A needle with glowing mako entered his view, along with Hojo's face and angry eyes. "One day boy, you're going to learn proper respect for your superiors."
"I respect my superiors, Professor." Sephiroth responded, proud that his voice didn't shake. "But you are in no way worthy of that title." He shut his eyes, strength of will keeping his muscles from tensing. "Gast was a far superior scientist to you, and he I--"
"Insolent whelp!" Sephiroth felt the needle be jammed into his neck, and then the screaming began.
Sephiroth opened his eyes and immediately sat up to look around himself, relaxing upon finding himself in his room in the Shinra building--or rather, his memory of it. He had led Cloud to believe that the sterile white room was his chosen living quarters within the blond's mind, but in truth it was this room--his solace.
He stood up to pace around the immaculately clean room. Why had he dreamt about that? Had showing Cloud his fifteen year prison the day before really rattled him so badly?
Pacing to the window, he looked out, watching imaginary people and imaginary cars trundle about 'below'. They were fake, faker even than the simulations in the training rooms because they were a direct product of his own thoughts and he sighed heavily before turning away again and stepping back to his bed to sit on it.
Dreams were unimportant in the end. He had other, more pressing concerns to worry about, such as dealing with Genesis the next time he showed up. It still rankled that the other man had killed Cloud in such a dishonorable fashion, and it also bothered Sephiroth that it bothered him. He hated Cloud. Hated him for daring to oppose him, for managing to defeat him. For having had a childhood, for having had a mother, a hometown, toys, hugs....for having everything Sephiroth had yearned for and Cloud had taken for granted.
Why had Cloud's pitiful death bothered him so much? Why had the honor Angeal had tried so hard to instill in him reared its head then of all times? Why, why, why?! What was happening to him?
I've been trapped in here too long. Sephiroth hissed at himself internally, putting his head in his hands. He's effecting me...I loathe humans. I loathe them!
He didn't want to have a conscience, he didn't want to care. Yet, that was exactly what was starting to happen, and Sephiroth found himself afraid that he would lose his identity if something wasn't done soon.
But what exactly could be done? He was stuck where he was. Even if the clone Zack body had his cells, the Gongagan was too strong-willed and it would be even more of a prison then what he was enduring right now. Not to mention, if the way Zack acted was any indication, his moral code was even worse than Cloud's, possibly even as strict as Angeal's was.
The Cetra had been hoping for this, Sephiroth was almost certain. She didn't fear him, she hadn't even shown any dislike toward him. Smug bitch. She'd known being in Cloud's mind would affect him, likely counted on it.
He had to figure out a way to get out of this situation. He'd called Cloud to him as a way out of being trapped at the Northern Crater, not knowing he'd just be exchanging a stationary prison for a mobile one. Cloud was stronger than he had anticipated, and that was the main problem. He knew who he was, and being around his friends only bolstered his sense of identity. Even if Sephiroth could convince the blond to somehow leave his friends behind, he would likely still be too strong-willed to overcome.
Sephiroth gave a heavy sigh and allowed himself to fall back onto the bed in his personal illusion. What difference did it make anyway? He'd already had an opportunity to take control of Cloud's body, and it had failed him. Perhaps it had been because it had only just returned to life, but perhaps not. Cloud was just a human, after all.
What he needed was a body strong enough to handle him. A body with no will of its own and no other presences already in residence. Ideally, a clone body. Sephiroth wrinkled his nose. He'd prompted Cloud to ask about the possibility of Sephiroth being cloned like the Genesis copies, and the way Tseng had worded his answer told him that it was possible. However...
"Your traits cannot be copied onto others. Your genes can't be diffused. Therefore, you cannot degrade."
"Rrr..." Sephiroth gripped his bangs, tugging on them in his frustration. Back then Genesis had been trying to get his cells to stop his own degradation, though clearly he'd found another way to fix himself. His traits could not be copied onto others, at least according to Genesis. It was true that he certainly hadn't seen any evidence to the contrary; his 'copies' had merely been weak-willed, almost brainless and hadn't shown the slightest sign of survival instinct. Cloud had been stronger, and Sephiroth had been able to get some decent use out of him, but that had only been through manipulation and once Cloud had been shown the truth of his own past, Sephiroth and Jenova had been unable to continue using him.
But that just meant that normal human bodies were indeed not strong enough to handle him. Long term mako enhancement would probably help, but it would still require a stronger shell then Cloud was, as well as Jenova and S cells. Again, the ideal situation would be to find a clone of himself. Being that Genesis was aware of his presence however....but maybe that was giving the redhead too much credit. Either way, he sure as hell wasn't going to try using a Genesis copy. Even if it could work....
Sephiroth's train of thought abruptly changed tracks. Weiss apparently had Hojo's memories, therefore knowing where samples of Sephiroth's DNA would be stored. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. If Weiss had that information, then the Deepground leader could potentially be of use. He didn't know how he would get the information from him, especially being stuck in Cloud's mind, but if there was a way he was definitely going to find it.
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Skin colored makeup and sealer to hide cheek tattoos? Check. Short, dirty blond wig to hide dyed red hair? Check. Oval frame, non prescription glasses? Check. Sneakers? Check. Gray sweater and blue jeans? Check and check.
Reno smiled at himself in the men's washroom mirror and checked his teeth. This was his second time at the Gold Saucer in about as many days, but this time he wasn't here looking for signs of Veld or the other Turks in hiding. Nope. This time he was stalking after Cloud and his friends.
This was Phase A: Observation, during which he would pick out information he could use for Phase B: Infiltration. If all went well in Phase A, he would then be able--in theory--to use the gathered information to join Cloud's group. If Phase A went really well though, then Phase B hopefully wouldn't be necessary.
He was doing this to hopefully glean what Cloud and his friends knew. Deepground running around, apparently with Genesis' help. Zack returned from the dead, and now Angeal. Way too many weird things going on to be ignored, and it was up to Reno to try and figure out how all of this connected--because surely it did. When dead SOLDIERs returned to life, it was way past time to be suspicious.
He left the washroom, walking straight backed and seemingly attentive to surroundings the way a tourist would be rather than his habitual slight slump. He knew Cloud and his friends were here, now he just needed to find them.
After nearly an hour of searching, Reno was about ready to take a break when familiar voices behind him caught his attention. He casually slowed his walk to let them pass him and then fell into step a little behind them.
"Man, you should've seen me!" It was Zack, gesturing enthusiastically to Cloud. "I totally tore it up in there! Was it supposed to be that easy?"
Cloud gave his friend a tolerant smile. "Probably not." He told him. "But considering the size of the sword you won, it's fairly clear that they're still catering to SOLDIER-strength fighters." He gave a shrug. "Maybe you're just too amazing for the arena."
Though Reno read that as being mildly sarcastic, Zack just grinned widely and put his arms behind his back. "Maybe so!" They walked along in silence for several moments before Zack dropped his arms again and became serious.
"So..." He said quietly enough that Reno had to strain to hear him. "why do you think Sephiroth saved you?"
Reno missed a step and then dared to walk a little closer to them. I can't have heard what I think I did....
Cloud frowned slightly, looking puzzled and thoughtful. ".....I don't know." He answered after several seconds. "Maybe it's because he needs me alive for...." He shrugged slightly and shook his head. "Never mind. I just don't know. He's not going too tell me anyway."
"Hm." Zack poked Cloud in the cheek, causing him to recoil. "Why not? You guys are brain roomies, so why not share some information?"
Cloud shook his head again. "He's not exactly sane, Zack. He showed me the....lodgings he's set up, and I wouldn't call them very welcoming. Frankly, I'm just happy when he leaves me alone."
"Then maybe he should socialize!" This time Zack poked at Cloud's arm.
Cloud gave his friend a look, then made a show of looking around them.
".....Yeah." Zack sighed softly. "Just 'cause I think only people who'd been dead can see him doesn't mean I'm right about it."
"Genesis couldn't see him...." Cloud shrugged. "Anyway....the Fair looks like it's finally open, so let's go see if my birds have arrived."
Reno diverted his path to head away from the Fair, as he had an allergy to chocobos and went to lean against a railing to think. Sephiroth was in Cloud's head. Now there was some gold information. Phase A was already coming along rather nicely. If he could get more info like that, then maybe he could blackmail the information he wanted out of Cloud.
He smiled slightly to himself. Yep, this didn't seem so bad after all. Now all he needed were allergy meds and there was no where Cloud and his friends could go where Reno couldn't follow.
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"They have different colors!"
Cloud chuckled softly, half-watching Zack as he stared around himself at the chocobos. Most of them were normal yellows, but here and there a green or blue could be seen, as well as one red that was barely fledged. Getting a colored chocobo seemed to be a hit and miss method in most cases, though with the notes that Choco Bill's granddaughter Chole had taken down it was probably becoming less chance and more intentional as the information spread among Bill's customers.
"You've never seen chocobos like this, I take it?" Cloud commented, even with the answer being so obvious.
"I thought they only came in yellow." Zack was looking around so quickly and avidly Cloud was surprised he was keeping his balance, never mind avoiding running into anyone. "This is really cool!"
Cloud shook his head slightly, amused. "They also come in gold and black, but those are harder to get. Ah. Here are mine." He stopped by a grouping of stables labeled with 'Strife, Cloud'. The stables in question held individually a green and a black and together two blue fledglings.
"Oooh. Hello, pretty birdies." Zack crooned. He checked the fledgling blues out first, crooning and chirruping at them, then moving on to the green and stroking around his beak and neck before finally moving to the black, who showed an eagerness to be scratched. "Oh hi! You're a really friendly one!"
"Read his sheet." Cloud suggested, smiling slightly.
"Hmm. Okay." Zack stopped giving the black neck scratches and picked up the chartboard. "Sire: Coal. Hen: Sunny. Name..." He paused and looked back at Cloud with a cocked brow, then looked at the sheet again, "Name: Zakky." He gave Cloud another look, and then smirked. "You named him after me?"
"He follows people around. When he was a chicobo, he kept getting out and following Chole-- Choco Bill's granddaughter--around. He's a regular ladies man nowadays too--he really reminded me of you, and I thought maybe you'd come back as a chocobo."
Zack gave an amused snort and hung the chartboard back on the stable. "It would make more sense if I'd come back as a dog. Besides, he's not really living up to my legacy if he's only hitting on ladies." He gave Cloud a sideways look, then smirked slightly at his friend's uncomprehending look. "You mean you really didn't notice?"
".....Notice what?" Cloud asked, though he was getting the feeling that he didn't want to know the answer.
Zack smirked more and turned fully to face him, planting his hands on his hips. "That I flirted with you. Really now? Asking you to catch a bite with me, all that standing just a little too close. I thought you were oblivious, so I didn't push too hard, but....well, it's all out now." He shrugged. "Hope you're not homophobic."
Cloud's face turned red as his mind casted back to some of his encounters with Zack when the Gongagan had seemed just a little too friendly and touchy. "I....I'd thought that was just you being you...." Cloud managed at last. "I didn't exactly have much socializing before I went to Midgar....."
"Really?" Zack tilted his head. "S'not like you told me much about yourself."
Cloud shrugged and turned away to check on the fledglings. "There isn't much to say. You were my first friend. Ever."
Zack blinked. "Wha? Really? But I thought you and Tifa--?"
"I joined Shinra to become SOLDIER, remember? I wanted her to notice me, I wanted to finally mean something to her. That's why I hid my face when we went there. We lived next door to each other, but she wouldn't give me the time of day--we'd never even really spoke before the day before I left for Midgar and I'd called her out to the well to tell her so."
"Huh." Zack tilted his head, then half-turned to his namesake when the chocobo started nibbling at his clothes to get his attention. "So you didn't make any friends in the Infantry?"
Cloud gave a dersive snort. "They were all bullies." He paused. "Well, actually....there was a boy named Matt....or was it Alan?" He shook his head. "One of those two was a friend of mine....but something happened to him, or them or....I can't remember." He shook his head again. "Overall though, no. No friends until you, and no friends beside you until I met everyone I'm now hanging out with." He gave a rue smile. "I think they're only my friends because of what we all went through--we don't really have much in common."
"Do you and I?" Zack asked. "We're both fighters, we were both in Shinra....we're both country boys. But what else? Do you think it takes some kind of deep soul connection to be friends with someone?"
"I suppose not." Cloud admitted. "Though I think you need that in....a significant other." He gave the fledglings head scritches briefly, then turned to the green. "It's funny, you know....I live with Tifa now, she calls us a family....but we're not. I spent all that energy, all those years, trying to get her attention....but now that I've got it, I'm not so sure I want it."
"Hm. That happens sometimes." Zack tilted his head at him. "So, who do you want, then?"
"No one, right now." Cloud shrugged. "I've got too much on my mind, especially right now. Life just won't settle down long enough for me to want to seek anything outside what I've got right now."
"Heh. You just keep waiting for the next big adventure." Zack grinned at him. "Well, don't worry Cloud! Once all this business is through, we'll find you someone nice."
"Thanks, Zack." Cloud said dryly. "What about you, though?"
Zack shrugged. "Who knows? Aerith would scarcely want me to be lonely, so I guess I could go hunting down someone nice....but I guess I'm in your boat right now. I came in when the action was starting, so my mind's in SOLDIER mode and not 'suave, sexy Zack' mode."
Cloud coughed to cover a laugh. "Right." He said, amused. "Of course." He became a bit nervously serious afterward however. ".....Uhm. Why were you hitting on me if you like women....?"
Zack arched a brow at him and put his hands on his hips, then tilted his head. "Because I'm bisexual, of course. I prefer the ladies, but...." A shrug.
"Ah. Of course....so you'll look for a girlfriend after all this is over."
"Maybe even a harem!" Zack responded with a cheeky smile.
Cloud laughed, but he wondered in the back of his mind, would Zack really be around when all of this was over? Aerith had brought him back, essentially. Was it like a Life materia or Phoenix Down, or did that clone body have an expiry date set before Zack was 60 or something? That also led to the question of Angeal's lifespan, but Angeal wasn't Cloud's concern. He wasn't his friend, and he didn't know what to make of the man, besides.
He continued to exchange pleasant banter with Zack while his mind ruminated on the more depressing ideas of losing his best friend again....and also vaguely on the idea of bringing Aerith back. If the dead could really be revived, then where would it stop anyway? Could he bring back the original residents of Nibelheim somehow? There were just so many questions.
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"Where is my son?!”
Vincent stared mutely at the specter before him. Lucrecia’s clothing and long, unbound hair whipping around her as if disturbed by a vicious wind.
“Where is my son?!” She demanded again, voice rising in fury.
Vincent tried to answer her, tell her where Sephiroth was, but his voice seemed to be torn away from him by the gale force of Lucrecia’s rage.
Suddenly she was standing behind him, her voice as gentle as a spring rain but as poisonous as arsenic.
“I’ll take you with me.” She whispered by his ear. Vincent felt her hands caress his body, wherever she touched flames seeming to erupt from his skin. He wanted to escape, but her clothing had wrapped itself around him and now it too was burning. He opened his mouth to scream....
Vincent woke up and immediately curled up into a ball on his side. He bit hard into his gloved right hand to muffle any screams he might emit and waited for the phantom pains to abate.
But this time they didn't. This wasn't the first time he'd woken up like this, but always before the pain would fade away. This time it was getting worse instead; rolling agony up and down his body, sparing nothing.
For several minutes that felt like an eternity he twitched, muffling his cries of agony into his glove. Finally though, the pain began to ebb away and he was slowly able to uncurl. He listened as his joints make cracking noises and gave one last groan before unclenching his jaw and releasing his abused hand.
"Vincent?"
Vincent opened pain-squeezed eyes to look into Red XIII's concerned face. "I....I'm alright now." He said hoarsely.
"Mm..." Red didn't appear to be convinced, and he frowned. "Vincent." He said. "When you are able, I think perhaps you should go look at yourself in the mirror."
Vincent slowly forced himself into a sit, stifling further sounds of discomfort. "Look at myself in the mirror?" He questioned even as he got to his feet and headed for the washroom to do just that.
Flicking the light on as he entered, he turned to face the large mirror and looked at himself. He didn't immediately see what the problem could be, but then he frowned and leaned closer.
He usually had crows feet and bags under his eyes from inadequate sleep, but both seemed to have deepened, becoming much more obvious. There were also wrinkles around his mouth, frown lines. They weren't very deep, but the fact that they were there at all was odd.
On a sudden impulse, he brought up his left hand to flick the hidden catches on the gauntlet so he could remove it. Pulling it off, he examined his hand and found his concern and alarm growing.
What had been a perfectly normal hand the last time he'd looked at it had become more prominently veiny. Not by much again, but enough to be a noticeable difference to Vincent.
"By Odin..." Vincent intoned in horror as the reason for this transformation sparked in his mind. He stumbled back against the wall.
"Vincent!" Red's tail was up in alarm, the flame sparking brightly. "What is this? What is wrong?"
"Nanaki...." Vincent had to lick his lips a few times before he continued, unable to take his eyes off his reflection. "I no longer have Chaos."
"Yes..." Red said, tilting his head slightly. "Reeve told me that."
"Chaos....made me immortal." Again, Vincent had to swallow several times and he finally was able to tear his eyes away from the mirror to look at his friend, who's expression was starting to match his. "I'm....aging...."
Vincent looked at his hand again. It was still as steady as ever, but how long would that last? And how old would he get? It had been roughly thirty years since he'd put himself in the coffin as penance, and he'd been twenty seven then. By the mark of the years, he was chronologically about sixty one. Would he age that far? What would happen if he did? How feeble would he become?
Vincent slowly slid down the wall, and brought his right hand to his face. He hadn't been this frightened, or felt this helpless since the day he'd found out his father had died in a lab accident and then when he'd discovered Lucrecia was submitting to experiments on her unborn child. Even surrounded by friends as he was now, there was no one who could help him.
He felt Red lean against him and heard him begin to purr, but he couldn't muster the energy to acknowledge him. Just as back then, there was no one who could help him. He bit his lip and swallowed a sob that threatened to come up. Vincent Valentine did not cry, it was unbecoming of men to shed tears regardless.
Oh, but how he wanted to now. How he very much wanted to. Everything was his fault, and now he could potentially die from his mistakes, or even just become too feeble to fix them. It was hard not to give in to despair, and so he sat there on the floor with Red trying to comfort him the only way he could.
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Nero's body writhed and contorted, curling up on his knees while the darkness spasmed around him as if it too was in pain.
Weiss stood well back, watching as Chaos' addition to his brother's body began to cause it to mutate. In slow spurts at first and then in quicker bursts, bony appendages forced themselves out of Nero's back. Within a minute they were fully grown; skeletal wings. As Weiss continued to watch, skin crawled up over them as well and finally darkness took up the spaces between the wing fingers instead of an actual membrane. They snapped open and shut a few times before folding back, and slowly, the darkness pulsing around him like a heartbeat, Nero moved to stand.
Oh and what a masterpiece Weiss beheld. Nero had always been pale, but now he looked almost porcelain. His eyes were still slit-pupiled and crimson red, but now the sclera surrounding was black. He opened his mouth to lick his lips and Weiss could see the edge of canines--possibly fangs.
"This feels wonderful, brother." Nero informed him, his voice slightly lispy now thanks to the longer canines. "I've never felt this strong before. The darkness blankets me in comfort...I feel like I could be everywhere at once."
Weiss smiled, his expression gentle and loving, for it was directed at the only person who had ever mattered to him. "Together, Nero. Together we will bring this world to heel, to obey and worship us--and then die to perhaps live again. We will control the very Lifestream itself!"
Nero didn't smile, being accustomed to wearing a muzzle, he wasn't used to making facial expressions. His eyes however, glowed maliciously and he nodded. "The whole world will be your oyster, brother. I'll gladly be your herald."
Weiss finally stepped forward, bringing his hands up to cup Nero's cheeks in his hands and watching as the darkness peeled back where he touched his younger sibling so that it wouldn't harm him. He leaned to touch foreheads and looked eye to eye with his brother.
"We will have our revenge, dear Nero. The company that created us, the people who worked for it....they will be first. Cleanse the impure to make way for a new dawn. Our dawn."
"The dawn of a black sun." Nero added. "I look forward to it."
Author: Ebonrune
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Possible swears and violence
Disclaimer: I of course, do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the compilation. That pleasure belongs to Square-Enix.
Status: Complete
Summary: It's been half a year since Omega was sent back to its rest and everyone has moved on with their lives. As Cloud and his friends soon discover however, the past refuses to remain buried.
Author's Notes: This story occurs post Dirge of Cerberus and makes references to it, as well as Crisis Core, the original Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children Complete, and Before Crisis--a game released on cellphones only in Japan. As well, I've chosen to use the fan names (according to the Final Fantasy wiki) for Cloud's various swords, since they don't have official names and 'Tsurugi' is Japanese for 'sword'. As the swords are not labeled which is which on the wiki, here's the picture for your reference.
Prequel: Ties of Friendship
Chapter Links: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen
Zack had never thought of himself as a poetic person. While he was a romantic at heart, poetry was more something Genesis apparently took interest in and while Zack knew Loveless from reading it years ago, it hadn't resonated with him. Beholding the perfection in front of him now however, he was sure he could come up with something.
"Beautiful...." He breathed.
Cloud shook his head and sighed. "I've never seen anyone get so dewy-eyed over a sword before." He commented, not knowing if he should be disturbed or amused. The Chocobo Fair was still being set up, so Cloud had decided to give Zack a tour of the Gold Saucer. When he'd brought Zack to Battle Square however, the sword had caught his eye and now he seemed infatuated with it.
The weapon in question was two inches short of the Buster sword and was also thinner, broad at the base but tapering to a sharp tip and it had a short but thick handle guard which held a materia slot on each side of it. It was a sleek design to be certain, but Cloud wouldn't have called it beautiful. Then again, for him a sword was merely a tool. A tool you relied on to keep you alive and therefore one that should be well cared for, but still a tool. Zack however, clearly did not agree with this sentiment.
"It's a beautiful sword!" Zack told Cloud. "Besides, I need my own." He motioned to the Buster sword on his back. "This is Angeal's and it's going back to him....oh, but he'd rejected it the last time I tried to give it to him." He paused for several moments, drooping slightly before he suddenly perked up again. "Well then, I'll give him that sword until he feels worthy of the Buster blade again!"
"You'll have to win enough Battle Points first." Cloud pointed out, already taking out his wallet to give Zack the 10 GP entry fee. "It says it costs 15,000 BP, but you're SOLDIER so this will probably be easy for you." He was about to hand the GP over, but then paused with a frown. "Oh, one more thing." He put a hand to his left arm to draw out his Curaga, then his right to pull out Ultima. "These will help too."
"Isn't Ultima a bit overkill?" Zack asked, accepting the materia all the same to put into the slots on the Buster blade.
"Maybe, but you have eight matches to get through. If you get the 'Magic Broken' handicap you're screwed on that match anyway." Cloud sighed. "Wish I had a Ribbon to give you...." He muttered.
"Wow. This is going to be really tough, isn't it?" Zack's eyes were starting to glimmer in anticipation of the challenge.
Cloud couldn't help but smile slightly and handed over the GP Zack would need in order to enter. "It might say 'The Brave Do Not Fear the Grave' over the door, but don't get knocked out. You'll lose all the BP you've earned if that happens. If you find yourself in too much trouble without the energy to cast Curaga, then forfeit."
"Gotcha, Coach." Zack was bouncing on his heels a bit. "Anything else?"
"They'll explain the rules to you before you go in." Cloud told him, feeling almost like an older brother in the face of Zack's youthful enthusiasm. He handed over a couple of Hi-Potions as a last resort and motioned for Zack to go over so he could start his battles, then he stood back to wait. If Zack got through all eight battles, then he could easily earn the sword on the first runthrough. If he got done quickly enough, they'd probably get back in time to watch some chocobos being unloaded for the Fair too.
Cloud smiled slightly, going to lean against a wall. No matter how old Zack got, he seemed just the same as when Cloud had first met him. Cheerful, enthusiastic and if a little morose at times, those moments tended to be brief. Zack was not a person prone to dark moods, and that made him a real relief to be around.
And Aerith sent him back. Cloud frowned a little. He hadn't exactly had the time to ask her at the Forgotten City, and she certainly hadn't seem surprised to see Zack there. But if she had sent him back, did that mean that she'd planned this? That she'd meant for him to find the relic? If that much had been intentional, then did that mean she'd known about Sephiroth the whole time as well? Even if she had, she hadn't told Zack. But if she'd meant to send Zack back....
Cloud put a hand to his head. This line of thinking was giving him a headache. How much did Aerith know? Unless he went back to the Forgotten City and got her attention, or she came to him in a dream he had no way of asking. Fenrir was still on the Squall, so he had no way of sneaking off--and his friends would throttle him if they caught him anyway.
Cloud sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. There was no point worrying about something he couldn't get the answer to, so he'd just doze a little and catch up on the sleep that Zack's early morning routine had robbed him of.
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Sephiroth stepped into Hojo's lab, expression impassive and bored as if all he wanted was to get his reason for being there--his monthly 'treatments'--over with so he could get on to more important things.
In reality, he was terrified. The injections wracked him with pain, usually to the point where the most he could manage was staggering through the back hallways of the Shinra building back to his room and collapsing there, then being incapacitated for hours afterward--at best.
Hojo looked at him, his lip curling when he noted the purposely relaxed posture, the bored expression. This was why Sephiroth did it, why he had cultivated this expression when dealing with the shrew of a man. For Hojo, fear seemed to equate respect and as soon as Sephiroth had figured that out, he had decided he would never show fear in front of him again.
It was true that not showing his fear likely made it worse as Hojo would attempt to torture him into fearing him, but Sephiroth had a measure of the man and he knew that no matter how badly it all hurt, he was Hojo's precious project and the slimy bastard would never do anything that would permanently damage him.
"Remove your coat." Hojo ordered as he prepared his instruments, laying them out in plain view for Sephiroth to see. Another ploy at intimidation and Sephiroth's gut knotted even as he obeyed, undoing the clasps at his wrists so he could remove his trenchcoat and lay it aside. He then stood there, waiting.
Hojo looked at him again, his beady eyes flicking to Sephiroth's shoulder-length hair. He probably would have spit if it wouldn't have made things unhygienic. For the first fifteen years of his life, Hojo had made sure Sephiroth's hair had always been kept short in a buzz cut, but ever since Sephiroth had been released into the barracks three years ago, he'd been working on growing out his hair, trimming and styling it until he'd achieved what he wanted. Now he had every intention of letting it grow, possibly as long as it could get, and this along with Sephiroth's apparent lack of fear and obvious contempt made Hojo furious.
"Lie down on the table." Hojo snapped, annoyed that Sephiroth had--again--waited for him to instruct him rather than just doing what he knew was expected. Sephiroth moved to obey, even though his insides felt like they'd all collected in his abdomen in a messy ball. He lay down on the table, but once more he was obstinate by laying his hands across his stomach casually and putting his legs outside the restraints. Even in his fear of the procedures, Sephiroth swore he would always defy Hojo in every way that he could. No matter how much it hurt it probably wouldn't kill him, and if it did....then he wouldn't have to suffer these treatments anymore or fight against people in a war he didn't understand.
Hojo stepped over, taking Sephiroth's arms and legs and all but slamming them into the restraints. Sephiroth smiled grimly, not resisting. Yes, Hojo was in a fine temper today. He could take some kind of satisfaction from that. He hated the man and was openly contemptful of him, and Hojo hated him for the lack of cowing obedience and slavering adoration that he seemed to think Sephiroth owed him.
A needle with glowing mako entered his view, along with Hojo's face and angry eyes. "One day boy, you're going to learn proper respect for your superiors."
"I respect my superiors, Professor." Sephiroth responded, proud that his voice didn't shake. "But you are in no way worthy of that title." He shut his eyes, strength of will keeping his muscles from tensing. "Gast was a far superior scientist to you, and he I--"
"Insolent whelp!" Sephiroth felt the needle be jammed into his neck, and then the screaming began.
Sephiroth opened his eyes and immediately sat up to look around himself, relaxing upon finding himself in his room in the Shinra building--or rather, his memory of it. He had led Cloud to believe that the sterile white room was his chosen living quarters within the blond's mind, but in truth it was this room--his solace.
He stood up to pace around the immaculately clean room. Why had he dreamt about that? Had showing Cloud his fifteen year prison the day before really rattled him so badly?
Pacing to the window, he looked out, watching imaginary people and imaginary cars trundle about 'below'. They were fake, faker even than the simulations in the training rooms because they were a direct product of his own thoughts and he sighed heavily before turning away again and stepping back to his bed to sit on it.
Dreams were unimportant in the end. He had other, more pressing concerns to worry about, such as dealing with Genesis the next time he showed up. It still rankled that the other man had killed Cloud in such a dishonorable fashion, and it also bothered Sephiroth that it bothered him. He hated Cloud. Hated him for daring to oppose him, for managing to defeat him. For having had a childhood, for having had a mother, a hometown, toys, hugs....for having everything Sephiroth had yearned for and Cloud had taken for granted.
Why had Cloud's pitiful death bothered him so much? Why had the honor Angeal had tried so hard to instill in him reared its head then of all times? Why, why, why?! What was happening to him?
I've been trapped in here too long. Sephiroth hissed at himself internally, putting his head in his hands. He's effecting me...I loathe humans. I loathe them!
He didn't want to have a conscience, he didn't want to care. Yet, that was exactly what was starting to happen, and Sephiroth found himself afraid that he would lose his identity if something wasn't done soon.
But what exactly could be done? He was stuck where he was. Even if the clone Zack body had his cells, the Gongagan was too strong-willed and it would be even more of a prison then what he was enduring right now. Not to mention, if the way Zack acted was any indication, his moral code was even worse than Cloud's, possibly even as strict as Angeal's was.
The Cetra had been hoping for this, Sephiroth was almost certain. She didn't fear him, she hadn't even shown any dislike toward him. Smug bitch. She'd known being in Cloud's mind would affect him, likely counted on it.
He had to figure out a way to get out of this situation. He'd called Cloud to him as a way out of being trapped at the Northern Crater, not knowing he'd just be exchanging a stationary prison for a mobile one. Cloud was stronger than he had anticipated, and that was the main problem. He knew who he was, and being around his friends only bolstered his sense of identity. Even if Sephiroth could convince the blond to somehow leave his friends behind, he would likely still be too strong-willed to overcome.
Sephiroth gave a heavy sigh and allowed himself to fall back onto the bed in his personal illusion. What difference did it make anyway? He'd already had an opportunity to take control of Cloud's body, and it had failed him. Perhaps it had been because it had only just returned to life, but perhaps not. Cloud was just a human, after all.
What he needed was a body strong enough to handle him. A body with no will of its own and no other presences already in residence. Ideally, a clone body. Sephiroth wrinkled his nose. He'd prompted Cloud to ask about the possibility of Sephiroth being cloned like the Genesis copies, and the way Tseng had worded his answer told him that it was possible. However...
"Your traits cannot be copied onto others. Your genes can't be diffused. Therefore, you cannot degrade."
"Rrr..." Sephiroth gripped his bangs, tugging on them in his frustration. Back then Genesis had been trying to get his cells to stop his own degradation, though clearly he'd found another way to fix himself. His traits could not be copied onto others, at least according to Genesis. It was true that he certainly hadn't seen any evidence to the contrary; his 'copies' had merely been weak-willed, almost brainless and hadn't shown the slightest sign of survival instinct. Cloud had been stronger, and Sephiroth had been able to get some decent use out of him, but that had only been through manipulation and once Cloud had been shown the truth of his own past, Sephiroth and Jenova had been unable to continue using him.
But that just meant that normal human bodies were indeed not strong enough to handle him. Long term mako enhancement would probably help, but it would still require a stronger shell then Cloud was, as well as Jenova and S cells. Again, the ideal situation would be to find a clone of himself. Being that Genesis was aware of his presence however....but maybe that was giving the redhead too much credit. Either way, he sure as hell wasn't going to try using a Genesis copy. Even if it could work....
Sephiroth's train of thought abruptly changed tracks. Weiss apparently had Hojo's memories, therefore knowing where samples of Sephiroth's DNA would be stored. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. If Weiss had that information, then the Deepground leader could potentially be of use. He didn't know how he would get the information from him, especially being stuck in Cloud's mind, but if there was a way he was definitely going to find it.
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Skin colored makeup and sealer to hide cheek tattoos? Check. Short, dirty blond wig to hide dyed red hair? Check. Oval frame, non prescription glasses? Check. Sneakers? Check. Gray sweater and blue jeans? Check and check.
Reno smiled at himself in the men's washroom mirror and checked his teeth. This was his second time at the Gold Saucer in about as many days, but this time he wasn't here looking for signs of Veld or the other Turks in hiding. Nope. This time he was stalking after Cloud and his friends.
This was Phase A: Observation, during which he would pick out information he could use for Phase B: Infiltration. If all went well in Phase A, he would then be able--in theory--to use the gathered information to join Cloud's group. If Phase A went really well though, then Phase B hopefully wouldn't be necessary.
He was doing this to hopefully glean what Cloud and his friends knew. Deepground running around, apparently with Genesis' help. Zack returned from the dead, and now Angeal. Way too many weird things going on to be ignored, and it was up to Reno to try and figure out how all of this connected--because surely it did. When dead SOLDIERs returned to life, it was way past time to be suspicious.
He left the washroom, walking straight backed and seemingly attentive to surroundings the way a tourist would be rather than his habitual slight slump. He knew Cloud and his friends were here, now he just needed to find them.
After nearly an hour of searching, Reno was about ready to take a break when familiar voices behind him caught his attention. He casually slowed his walk to let them pass him and then fell into step a little behind them.
"Man, you should've seen me!" It was Zack, gesturing enthusiastically to Cloud. "I totally tore it up in there! Was it supposed to be that easy?"
Cloud gave his friend a tolerant smile. "Probably not." He told him. "But considering the size of the sword you won, it's fairly clear that they're still catering to SOLDIER-strength fighters." He gave a shrug. "Maybe you're just too amazing for the arena."
Though Reno read that as being mildly sarcastic, Zack just grinned widely and put his arms behind his back. "Maybe so!" They walked along in silence for several moments before Zack dropped his arms again and became serious.
"So..." He said quietly enough that Reno had to strain to hear him. "why do you think Sephiroth saved you?"
Reno missed a step and then dared to walk a little closer to them. I can't have heard what I think I did....
Cloud frowned slightly, looking puzzled and thoughtful. ".....I don't know." He answered after several seconds. "Maybe it's because he needs me alive for...." He shrugged slightly and shook his head. "Never mind. I just don't know. He's not going too tell me anyway."
"Hm." Zack poked Cloud in the cheek, causing him to recoil. "Why not? You guys are brain roomies, so why not share some information?"
Cloud shook his head again. "He's not exactly sane, Zack. He showed me the....lodgings he's set up, and I wouldn't call them very welcoming. Frankly, I'm just happy when he leaves me alone."
"Then maybe he should socialize!" This time Zack poked at Cloud's arm.
Cloud gave his friend a look, then made a show of looking around them.
".....Yeah." Zack sighed softly. "Just 'cause I think only people who'd been dead can see him doesn't mean I'm right about it."
"Genesis couldn't see him...." Cloud shrugged. "Anyway....the Fair looks like it's finally open, so let's go see if my birds have arrived."
Reno diverted his path to head away from the Fair, as he had an allergy to chocobos and went to lean against a railing to think. Sephiroth was in Cloud's head. Now there was some gold information. Phase A was already coming along rather nicely. If he could get more info like that, then maybe he could blackmail the information he wanted out of Cloud.
He smiled slightly to himself. Yep, this didn't seem so bad after all. Now all he needed were allergy meds and there was no where Cloud and his friends could go where Reno couldn't follow.
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"They have different colors!"
Cloud chuckled softly, half-watching Zack as he stared around himself at the chocobos. Most of them were normal yellows, but here and there a green or blue could be seen, as well as one red that was barely fledged. Getting a colored chocobo seemed to be a hit and miss method in most cases, though with the notes that Choco Bill's granddaughter Chole had taken down it was probably becoming less chance and more intentional as the information spread among Bill's customers.
"You've never seen chocobos like this, I take it?" Cloud commented, even with the answer being so obvious.
"I thought they only came in yellow." Zack was looking around so quickly and avidly Cloud was surprised he was keeping his balance, never mind avoiding running into anyone. "This is really cool!"
Cloud shook his head slightly, amused. "They also come in gold and black, but those are harder to get. Ah. Here are mine." He stopped by a grouping of stables labeled with 'Strife, Cloud'. The stables in question held individually a green and a black and together two blue fledglings.
"Oooh. Hello, pretty birdies." Zack crooned. He checked the fledgling blues out first, crooning and chirruping at them, then moving on to the green and stroking around his beak and neck before finally moving to the black, who showed an eagerness to be scratched. "Oh hi! You're a really friendly one!"
"Read his sheet." Cloud suggested, smiling slightly.
"Hmm. Okay." Zack stopped giving the black neck scratches and picked up the chartboard. "Sire: Coal. Hen: Sunny. Name..." He paused and looked back at Cloud with a cocked brow, then looked at the sheet again, "Name: Zakky." He gave Cloud another look, and then smirked. "You named him after me?"
"He follows people around. When he was a chicobo, he kept getting out and following Chole-- Choco Bill's granddaughter--around. He's a regular ladies man nowadays too--he really reminded me of you, and I thought maybe you'd come back as a chocobo."
Zack gave an amused snort and hung the chartboard back on the stable. "It would make more sense if I'd come back as a dog. Besides, he's not really living up to my legacy if he's only hitting on ladies." He gave Cloud a sideways look, then smirked slightly at his friend's uncomprehending look. "You mean you really didn't notice?"
".....Notice what?" Cloud asked, though he was getting the feeling that he didn't want to know the answer.
Zack smirked more and turned fully to face him, planting his hands on his hips. "That I flirted with you. Really now? Asking you to catch a bite with me, all that standing just a little too close. I thought you were oblivious, so I didn't push too hard, but....well, it's all out now." He shrugged. "Hope you're not homophobic."
Cloud's face turned red as his mind casted back to some of his encounters with Zack when the Gongagan had seemed just a little too friendly and touchy. "I....I'd thought that was just you being you...." Cloud managed at last. "I didn't exactly have much socializing before I went to Midgar....."
"Really?" Zack tilted his head. "S'not like you told me much about yourself."
Cloud shrugged and turned away to check on the fledglings. "There isn't much to say. You were my first friend. Ever."
Zack blinked. "Wha? Really? But I thought you and Tifa--?"
"I joined Shinra to become SOLDIER, remember? I wanted her to notice me, I wanted to finally mean something to her. That's why I hid my face when we went there. We lived next door to each other, but she wouldn't give me the time of day--we'd never even really spoke before the day before I left for Midgar and I'd called her out to the well to tell her so."
"Huh." Zack tilted his head, then half-turned to his namesake when the chocobo started nibbling at his clothes to get his attention. "So you didn't make any friends in the Infantry?"
Cloud gave a dersive snort. "They were all bullies." He paused. "Well, actually....there was a boy named Matt....or was it Alan?" He shook his head. "One of those two was a friend of mine....but something happened to him, or them or....I can't remember." He shook his head again. "Overall though, no. No friends until you, and no friends beside you until I met everyone I'm now hanging out with." He gave a rue smile. "I think they're only my friends because of what we all went through--we don't really have much in common."
"Do you and I?" Zack asked. "We're both fighters, we were both in Shinra....we're both country boys. But what else? Do you think it takes some kind of deep soul connection to be friends with someone?"
"I suppose not." Cloud admitted. "Though I think you need that in....a significant other." He gave the fledglings head scritches briefly, then turned to the green. "It's funny, you know....I live with Tifa now, she calls us a family....but we're not. I spent all that energy, all those years, trying to get her attention....but now that I've got it, I'm not so sure I want it."
"Hm. That happens sometimes." Zack tilted his head at him. "So, who do you want, then?"
"No one, right now." Cloud shrugged. "I've got too much on my mind, especially right now. Life just won't settle down long enough for me to want to seek anything outside what I've got right now."
"Heh. You just keep waiting for the next big adventure." Zack grinned at him. "Well, don't worry Cloud! Once all this business is through, we'll find you someone nice."
"Thanks, Zack." Cloud said dryly. "What about you, though?"
Zack shrugged. "Who knows? Aerith would scarcely want me to be lonely, so I guess I could go hunting down someone nice....but I guess I'm in your boat right now. I came in when the action was starting, so my mind's in SOLDIER mode and not 'suave, sexy Zack' mode."
Cloud coughed to cover a laugh. "Right." He said, amused. "Of course." He became a bit nervously serious afterward however. ".....Uhm. Why were you hitting on me if you like women....?"
Zack arched a brow at him and put his hands on his hips, then tilted his head. "Because I'm bisexual, of course. I prefer the ladies, but...." A shrug.
"Ah. Of course....so you'll look for a girlfriend after all this is over."
"Maybe even a harem!" Zack responded with a cheeky smile.
Cloud laughed, but he wondered in the back of his mind, would Zack really be around when all of this was over? Aerith had brought him back, essentially. Was it like a Life materia or Phoenix Down, or did that clone body have an expiry date set before Zack was 60 or something? That also led to the question of Angeal's lifespan, but Angeal wasn't Cloud's concern. He wasn't his friend, and he didn't know what to make of the man, besides.
He continued to exchange pleasant banter with Zack while his mind ruminated on the more depressing ideas of losing his best friend again....and also vaguely on the idea of bringing Aerith back. If the dead could really be revived, then where would it stop anyway? Could he bring back the original residents of Nibelheim somehow? There were just so many questions.
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"Where is my son?!”
Vincent stared mutely at the specter before him. Lucrecia’s clothing and long, unbound hair whipping around her as if disturbed by a vicious wind.
“Where is my son?!” She demanded again, voice rising in fury.
Vincent tried to answer her, tell her where Sephiroth was, but his voice seemed to be torn away from him by the gale force of Lucrecia’s rage.
Suddenly she was standing behind him, her voice as gentle as a spring rain but as poisonous as arsenic.
“I’ll take you with me.” She whispered by his ear. Vincent felt her hands caress his body, wherever she touched flames seeming to erupt from his skin. He wanted to escape, but her clothing had wrapped itself around him and now it too was burning. He opened his mouth to scream....
Vincent woke up and immediately curled up into a ball on his side. He bit hard into his gloved right hand to muffle any screams he might emit and waited for the phantom pains to abate.
But this time they didn't. This wasn't the first time he'd woken up like this, but always before the pain would fade away. This time it was getting worse instead; rolling agony up and down his body, sparing nothing.
For several minutes that felt like an eternity he twitched, muffling his cries of agony into his glove. Finally though, the pain began to ebb away and he was slowly able to uncurl. He listened as his joints make cracking noises and gave one last groan before unclenching his jaw and releasing his abused hand.
"Vincent?"
Vincent opened pain-squeezed eyes to look into Red XIII's concerned face. "I....I'm alright now." He said hoarsely.
"Mm..." Red didn't appear to be convinced, and he frowned. "Vincent." He said. "When you are able, I think perhaps you should go look at yourself in the mirror."
Vincent slowly forced himself into a sit, stifling further sounds of discomfort. "Look at myself in the mirror?" He questioned even as he got to his feet and headed for the washroom to do just that.
Flicking the light on as he entered, he turned to face the large mirror and looked at himself. He didn't immediately see what the problem could be, but then he frowned and leaned closer.
He usually had crows feet and bags under his eyes from inadequate sleep, but both seemed to have deepened, becoming much more obvious. There were also wrinkles around his mouth, frown lines. They weren't very deep, but the fact that they were there at all was odd.
On a sudden impulse, he brought up his left hand to flick the hidden catches on the gauntlet so he could remove it. Pulling it off, he examined his hand and found his concern and alarm growing.
What had been a perfectly normal hand the last time he'd looked at it had become more prominently veiny. Not by much again, but enough to be a noticeable difference to Vincent.
"By Odin..." Vincent intoned in horror as the reason for this transformation sparked in his mind. He stumbled back against the wall.
"Vincent!" Red's tail was up in alarm, the flame sparking brightly. "What is this? What is wrong?"
"Nanaki...." Vincent had to lick his lips a few times before he continued, unable to take his eyes off his reflection. "I no longer have Chaos."
"Yes..." Red said, tilting his head slightly. "Reeve told me that."
"Chaos....made me immortal." Again, Vincent had to swallow several times and he finally was able to tear his eyes away from the mirror to look at his friend, who's expression was starting to match his. "I'm....aging...."
Vincent looked at his hand again. It was still as steady as ever, but how long would that last? And how old would he get? It had been roughly thirty years since he'd put himself in the coffin as penance, and he'd been twenty seven then. By the mark of the years, he was chronologically about sixty one. Would he age that far? What would happen if he did? How feeble would he become?
Vincent slowly slid down the wall, and brought his right hand to his face. He hadn't been this frightened, or felt this helpless since the day he'd found out his father had died in a lab accident and then when he'd discovered Lucrecia was submitting to experiments on her unborn child. Even surrounded by friends as he was now, there was no one who could help him.
He felt Red lean against him and heard him begin to purr, but he couldn't muster the energy to acknowledge him. Just as back then, there was no one who could help him. He bit his lip and swallowed a sob that threatened to come up. Vincent Valentine did not cry, it was unbecoming of men to shed tears regardless.
Oh, but how he wanted to now. How he very much wanted to. Everything was his fault, and now he could potentially die from his mistakes, or even just become too feeble to fix them. It was hard not to give in to despair, and so he sat there on the floor with Red trying to comfort him the only way he could.
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Nero's body writhed and contorted, curling up on his knees while the darkness spasmed around him as if it too was in pain.
Weiss stood well back, watching as Chaos' addition to his brother's body began to cause it to mutate. In slow spurts at first and then in quicker bursts, bony appendages forced themselves out of Nero's back. Within a minute they were fully grown; skeletal wings. As Weiss continued to watch, skin crawled up over them as well and finally darkness took up the spaces between the wing fingers instead of an actual membrane. They snapped open and shut a few times before folding back, and slowly, the darkness pulsing around him like a heartbeat, Nero moved to stand.
Oh and what a masterpiece Weiss beheld. Nero had always been pale, but now he looked almost porcelain. His eyes were still slit-pupiled and crimson red, but now the sclera surrounding was black. He opened his mouth to lick his lips and Weiss could see the edge of canines--possibly fangs.
"This feels wonderful, brother." Nero informed him, his voice slightly lispy now thanks to the longer canines. "I've never felt this strong before. The darkness blankets me in comfort...I feel like I could be everywhere at once."
Weiss smiled, his expression gentle and loving, for it was directed at the only person who had ever mattered to him. "Together, Nero. Together we will bring this world to heel, to obey and worship us--and then die to perhaps live again. We will control the very Lifestream itself!"
Nero didn't smile, being accustomed to wearing a muzzle, he wasn't used to making facial expressions. His eyes however, glowed maliciously and he nodded. "The whole world will be your oyster, brother. I'll gladly be your herald."
Weiss finally stepped forward, bringing his hands up to cup Nero's cheeks in his hands and watching as the darkness peeled back where he touched his younger sibling so that it wouldn't harm him. He leaned to touch foreheads and looked eye to eye with his brother.
"We will have our revenge, dear Nero. The company that created us, the people who worked for it....they will be first. Cleanse the impure to make way for a new dawn. Our dawn."
"The dawn of a black sun." Nero added. "I look forward to it."