Repeated Past
By: Mouse-chan
: K-chan
Standard Disclaimer: The characters used this fanfic
are owned and copyright by Squaresoft. The characters are used without
permission. This series is only made for entertainment use and does not make
any profits of any kind. Any original characters are copyrighted to the
authors. Changes in this fanfic can occur without any warning. Please bear in
mind that the story contains yaoi, violence and adult language for that matter.
Comments can be sent to
Mouse-chan at cheese_factory@hotmail.com or K-chan at karina_lye@yahoo.com .Any flames about the yaoi coupling in this fanfic will not be
entertained.
[Warning, spoilers for
the game]
"-" conversations
italics flashbacks
‘-‘ thoughts
[CHAPTER 3: A WALK
IN THE DARK]
[PART 3: THE
FORSAKEN]
He was baffled.
Utterly baffled.
A sound of what
could only be labeled as a stomach growling in hunger was followed closely by a
high-pitched squeak reached his ears.
Cloud folded his
arms, staring at the brightly painted machine that currently hosted a small,
furry mog along with its little house and the colorful vegetation in the
background. From his position, the blonde ex-trooper could make out his rather
dumbstruck looking twin reflected on the lit screen. He vaguely knew that there
was an arcade center somewhere in Golden Saucer but had never ventured into the
particular area since he was mostly interested in chocobo racing.
Now he was here…
The golden eyebrows
rose up higher towards his hairline as the tiny mog gave a satisfied squeak
before heading towards another house, which curiously resembled like an
overgrown mushroom.
A mushroom
constructed with pink doors and heart-shaped windows nonetheless.
His eyebrows raised
a tad when a pink mog wobbled out of the peculiar mushroom house to join the
white mog who was patiently waiting outside. The whole scene looked like
something wholly out of a fairytale book.
Growing up in a
quiet town like Nibelheim never gave Cloud the chance to appreciate videogames.
From his blurry childhood memories, he remembered watching the other children
kick a worn-looking ball into an overturned dustbin and the way they hollered
in delight before chalking the score on an old piece of blackboard. It was
either that or playing the ever-so-popular game of hide-and-seek. As for
himself, the boy normally wandered in the outskirts of the town, weaving
fantasies of his future to pass his time. Nobody in the village had anything more
complex than a beaten old radio that usually bleated out the world news.
Cloud gave a slight
smile.
Zack, of course,
did try to teach him the delights of digital games despite his protests about
not being interested. Unfortunately for the dark haired man, time was limited
since they had to train and carry out missions for Shinra. At best, his friend
could only squeeze in a mere handful of minutes expertly tapping the buttons on
the controller while Cloud, who could never seem to master the art of digital
battle games, sympathized with the character on the screen who was getting
severely beaten.
Tiny upbeated
digital music caught the blonde’s attention.
The white mog
preened on the screen, obviously trying to win the pink mog’s affections or
perhaps interest. Cloud couldn’t really tell the difference. He remembered
reading about the creatures somewhere while he was still a trooper but couldn’t
really remember the details. Golden eyebrows drew closer together. The little,
furry creature made another high pitched squeak and began flapping its wings
vigorously.
‘Mating behavior?’
the blonde ex-trooper wondered idly then caught himself, ‘Why, in the
name of the gods, am I pondering about a game?’
Mako blue eyes
sought out the silver haired man who was fiddling around with the controls. If
anything, Sephiroth looked as though he was quite amused with the interactive
animation. Had anyone told Cloud, years back when he was still a SOLDIER
recruit, that the great Sephiroth actually played arcade games; Cloud would have
most likely whacked them on the head with a standard army issued war-hammer.
He glanced at the
taller man whose head was slightly tilted to one side while green eyes watched
the screen.
Cloud paused.
‘I really cannot
believe I am seeing this,’ his mind muttered.
And he paused
again.
The mog gave
another squeak. Cloud absently noted the half smile hovering around the silver
haired man’s lips.
If the blonde
ex-trooper remembered correctly, Sephiroth had refused countless of times to
join them playing arcade games. Sephiroth had just lifted one eyebrow and went
back to whatever he was working on while Cloud blinked and Zack shrugged.
Sephiroth’s partner must have somehow managed to pass on his love for digital
games to Sephiroth’s subconscious mind hence the fact that the amnesiac was
acting as such.
There was simply no
way the silver haired man would have acted as such on normal circumstances.
Cloud stared at the
Sephiroth again.
‘Amnesiac,’ he
reminded himself.
The machine beeped
cheerfully.
Even with the
explanation at hand…
The mog gave
another high pitch squeak.
‘I really can’t
believe this,’ Cloud’s mind wailed.
The picture of a
the General, the first class SOLDIER, the person who was known for legendary
his cool demeanor and lethal fighting skills, the man that Cloud had
hero-worshipped simply would not and could not merge with the picture of the
same man playing an arcade game. Somewhere at the back of his mind, the blonde
ex-trooper’s consciousness pointed out that Sephiroth was still human therefore
entitled to playing all the arcade games if he ever wanted to.
But it was still
hard to merge the almost god-like image he had for the silver haired man along
with the evil villain who wished for world domination to this mild tempered
being in front of him.
‘The same person
who is right now playing a game that consists of…mog mating?’
It would have been
hilarious if it were not so bewildering.
Glowing blue eyes
closed as Cloud resisted the urge to just shake his head in disbelieve.
Carefully, he reviewed his past and decided this ought to be the most bewildering
scene he had ever encountered. Somewhere in the blonde’s thoughts, he wondered
if it was too late for him to seek medical treatment from a physiatrist.
“Well, that was
rather…interesting.”
Sephiroth’s quiet
voice lined with a hint of amusement effectively broke through his musing.
The blonde
ex-trooper hurriedly gathered his thoughts before blinking up at the taller
man. Cloud shot a quick glance at the lit glass just in time to see the white
mog and pink mog happily squeaking away as they crossed the screen followed by
a line of baby mogs. For an instant, the blonde wondered how could any creature
produce so many infants in such a short span of time then decided it was better
not to think about it.
His head was
beginning to hurt.
‘By my luck, I am
totally beyond any help,’ he thought miserably.
“So.” Cloud nodded once and unfolded his arms, forcing out a slight
smile. His gaze left the ‘THE END’ on the screen and came to rest on the silver
haired man’s face. A list of things they could do while waiting for the repairs
on Highwind to be finished ran through Cloud’s mind.
For a second, the idea of going to the battle arena seemed rather
appealing just a split second before reality whacked him soundly on the head
and pointed out it was best to keep Sephiroth away from violent scenes lest it
might provoke memories that would cause really bad things to happen.
And if those really
bad things were to happen, Cloud would most definitely prefer it to not occur
in Gold Saucer, a place populated with several thousands of visitors.
Besides, chances 9
in 10 Dio, the owner of Golden Saucer, would also go raving mad at the
destruction of his pride and joy.
Having two mad
people ardently after his head was something Cloud would dearly like to avoid
at any cost.
Yes, Cloud would
dearly love to keep his head intact with the rest of his body even though his state
of mind was more scrambled compared to a self-concocted meal of scrambled eggs.
Non-violent things
to do…
His mind reached
into the past and came up with…
“So,” Cloud
helplessly heard himself say, “How about some ice-cream?”
The person who was
once the most feared man on the planet, to the blonde’s amazement, smiled. “Why
not.”
Utterly and totally
baffled…
Yes, that summed it
up perfectly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“This is freakin’ly
freaky.”
Red 13 curiously looked
up from the thick book he was reading to see Barret pacing near the entrance of
the study room. From his dark skinned friend’s tensed posture, Red 13 had no
trouble guessing that Barret was quite agitated. The broad shouldered man’s
eyebrows were tightly drawn close together. The man had been pacing up and down
the small corridor for some time and had not announced his presence until now.
Red 13 had tolerated the sound of the rather loud pacing footsteps as he did a
little research, waiting for his team-member to state what was disturbing
Barret so.
The fire-tipped
tail swept through the air, barely gracing the surface of the red tiles then
settled back onto the floor. Golden eyes blinked once before the furry beast
politely tilted his head slightly in inquiry. “Freaky?”
“Ya know…freaky.”
Barret gestured with one hand, “Weird, odd…”
“Yes, I am quite
familiar with the word,” Red 13 answered patiently, “Instead of the meaning,
what do you find so…odd? Or rather…freaky about?”
“…”
Red 13 waited; it
was his nature to be patient.
“…” Barret paused
again before groaning, “Aw’ hell, its that damn silver haired freak.”
“Sephiroth?” his
furry companion looked almost thoughtful.
“Yea, I mean first
he dacnes around da’ damn place wantin’ to be god an’ all plus that freakin’
thin’ about destoryin’ the planet. Next we chased him from Shinra to high hell
to that stupid crater place, kill him, bury him under an ungodly amount of rock
an’ spent our 6 well earned months of darn peace doin’ whatever we pleased for
a change. Now the silver haired freak is freakin’ly back. He ain’t
ranting about bein’ God or burnin’ towns no more. We spend bout’ 3 days with
him an’ da’ man is…”
Red nodded encouragingly
but continued to remain silent for the time being.
Barret stopped from
his ranting as he took a long breath before rounding the whole thing up, “Hell,
from what I see that damn silver haired freak is as harmless as tha’ goldfish
christened ‘Bobo’ Marlene keeps in her room. Its really damn…well…freaky.”
“I doubt Sephiroth
is anything similar to Marlene’s pet,” Red 13’s voice was tinged with
amusement.
The broad
shouldered man gave a short shrug. His posture, Red 13 noted, was less tensed
after saying what he had been restraining from mentioning since the silver
haired man had joined their reluctant team.
“Supposed so,”
Barret muttered pushing back his shoulders a little, “But its just…jeeze, ain’t
there like…rules or somethin’ on the limit a man can change?!”
“Sephiroth is
suffering from amnesia,” Red 13 gently reminded him.
“Yea, yea. Still,
the man was a killing machine and now daisies can be considered more dangerous
compared to him…damn pollen and all.”
It took a lot of
Red 13’s will not to laugh at his friend’s comment. As funny as it was, he
didn’t think Barret would take kindly of him if he did smile. Besides, Barret
was in the midst of pouring out his thoughts and it wouldn’t do if the man
thought that Red 13 was finding the conversation hilarious at the slightest.
Carefully, Red 13
kept a straight face; fighting the urge to grin at the thought of goldfishes
and daisies chosen to compare with the man named Sephiroth.
“Just yesterday I
saw that silver haired freak talkin’ to Cloud. Talkin’,” Barret said
while shaking his head in amazement.
“Perhaps Cloud is
adapting to the situation at hand?”
“Ain’t no shoutin’,
attempts to kill each other…not even a death glare. Just talkin’…like
they are been real lon’ friends.”
“They might have, Barret,” Red 13 smiled,
“Cloud had been in Shinra as a trooper for most of his teenage life. I suppose
he had met Sephiroth somewhere between those years became acquainted or
hero-worshipped him from afar until the Nibelhiem incident or both.”
“Ya make it sound
like some romance novel or somethin’. Besides, I can’t imagine spikey head worshippin’
anybody,” Barret truthfully replied, “Especially that wantin’-to-be-a-god guy.”
“Barret,” Red 13
stopped, “We don’t exactly know if it was Sephiroth who wanted to be a
God in the first place.”
“Huh?”
“Sephiroth could be
said as a host to Jenova. He was injected with Jenova cells since he was still
in his mother’s womb. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Jenova who was
manipulating his mind to merge with the Life Stream and become a higher being.”
Red shook his mane. “A sane man whom Sephiroth was while being the General
under Shinra would not have done such an crazy thing. Why be a God when you
have killed all your followers?”
“Maybe he woke up one
morning an’ thought ‘Oh, why don’t I be a God today’. Or he is a sadistic
bastard’,” Barret shot back, “Besides, if Jenova was his darn parasite, why
would that shit wait for Sephiroth to grow up then only get him to ‘go be God’?
Why not go ‘be a God’ right away? Why wait?”
“Maybe Jenova
thought he wasn’t strong enough as a child? Or perhaps he needed to be near
Jenova for her to create a bond between them hence influence him? Or the jenova
cells in him were dormant for a period of time before the near presence of
Jenova triggered them off? Or Jenova only needed a small gap in his defense to
lay in him her will as what happened in Nibelhiem when Sephiroth lost control
and went berserk,” Red laid his head on his paws. This was something that he
had internally debated about endlessly, “The possibilities go on and on.”
“We have came near
that damn Jenova plenty of times and I ain’t seein’ you wanting to be no God.”
Barret eyed him warily. A little doubt crept into the man’s voice. “Do ya, Red?”
“I don’t have any
Jenova cells in me. Neither does Vincent…the only person who does have Jenova
cells in him would be Cloud.”
“Spikey definitely
ain’t wanna either. Given a choice, I bet he’d be a hermit. Damn cottage,
chocobos and all. All he lacks is da robe.”
Red’s lips twitched
slightly at the thought of Cloud in hermit robes. Grasping back the thread of
the conversation, he sternly directed his mind to the original subject.
“As I was saying, the
higher complexity cells or in other words cell with a higher intelligence in
Sephiroth giving him the ability to control the clones. The same cells would
also signify that he was the main host, the first therefore Jenova’s chosen.
Given time, I am willing to say that those Jenova cells in him were able to
mutate and since Sephiroth was injected with these alien cells when he was just
a baby…”
“Plenty of time for
em’ darn critters.”
Red 13 nodded
again.
“And Cloud is
different cause…?” Barret pressed.
“If I recall
correctly, Hojo said that Cloud was a failed clone. That would mean Cloud was slightly
muted to Jenova’s presence. Not totally immune, just flawed. In other word;
harder to control. And besides knowing Hojo,” the furry beast growled at the
name, “the rest of the clones would have been given cells that were less
complex.”
“Why?” a hint of
confusion.
“Can you imagine a
herd of man each with enough power to destroy the world all fighting among
themselves to be God?”
“Shit. That would
be hell. That silver haired freak alone was bad enough.”
“No, Hojo knew
exactly what he was doing when he did what he did,” Red 13 briefly closed his
eyes against the memory. He let out a long sigh. The page of the book in front
of him caught the moving air and rustled slightly, pushing their dark thoughts
away for a moment.
“So…what were you
reading before I dragged you into our conversation?” Barret asked almost guiltily.
“A few facts about
amnesia that had I weren’t quite certain of.”
“That silver haired
man is gonna recover, ain’t he?”
“The chances are
pretty high. It would be like Cloud all over again, but perhaps a little
faster. Although I do wonder if he would recover fully since Cloud is still
recalling bits and pieces of his own past.”
“Is he gonna…”
Barret hand sought out the wooden surface of his study table. “…wanna be all
Godly again?”
“That I cannot say.
If he recovers his memories, Sephiroth might become what he was; Shinra’s
General. Or maybe the residue of Jenova’s will in him is enough to push him
into another attempt to become a God. But with Jenova dead, who knows?”
“An’ you are just
gonna sit back an’ let this happen?!” the dark skinned man asked incredulously.
“It is, like I have said, unavoidable.
Sephiroth will, even if it takes years, by and by remember everything. Its
better if he recovers when we are with him rather than in the presence of
unprepared people.”
“Sometimes you make
too much sense, Red,” Barret grumbled then stopped dead, “Where the hell is
Sephiroth anyway?”
“In Gold Saucer.
With Cloud.”
“Ya kiddin’ me.”
“I kid you not.
Sephiroth is with Cloud.” Red 13 looked slightly indignant.
“One of em’ is
coming back dead, I tell ya. Or in tiny winny pieces. Sure they can stan’ each
other for 5 minutes but a full hour? Spikey might just make sushi out of da’
man,” Barret spun on his heel, fully intending to go to Gold Saucer and drag
out Cloud along with the silver haired man. Automatically, he checked the gun
attached to his arm to make sure it was loaded. The metal gave a sharp snap as
the safety lock was released.
“Barret, don’t.”
The beast stood up, golden eyes sharp.
“What the hell?!”
Heavy boots obediently came to a halt despite their owner’s obvious reaction.
“This is good for
Cloud.”
“I think I really
need a hearing aid….say that again?!”
“Its good for
Cloud,” Red 13 hesitated before scratching his left ear, “I am not sure how to
put this but being with Sephiroth might just help Cloud recover those pieces of
memories which he has forgotten.”
Barret paused and
shook his head, “I ain’t buyin’ that, Red. Ain’t buyin’ that at all.”
“Cloud has
remembered much more of his time as a trooper compared to the tiny scraps he
managed to regain last time. From the way he talks, I suspect that he remembers
more than what he says he does which is a good thing. This maybe the key to
unlock all that he has forgotten. Maybe the only key.”
“Shit, an’ Sephiroth
is the key?”
“That might be one
way of putting it.” Red 13 managed to say as delicately as possible.
“Talkin’ about
meetin’ up with your demons through your livin’ nightmare!” Barret grumbled, “Sometimes
I wish that Cloud could go like go an’ sleep or somethin’ an’ wake up
rememberin’ everythin’. Save him the trouble of wakin’ up screamin’ from
nightmares. A lot easier too.”
“Sometimes its just
not that simple,” the golden eyes frowned, “Cloud does seemed to be a little
bit preoccupied lately, hasn’t he?”
“Stress, Sephiroth,
WEAPONS mixed with that slimy Hojo…” Barret shrugged, “Its no wonder the guy
went totally dead in Cosmo Canyon. But I think he is okay now, spikey head ate
quite a bit before we left. Jeeze, finished the damn salmon fish all by
himself. Never knew spikey had such a big appetite.”
“I see…”
“Well, ain’t wanna
bother ya no more since ya readin’. But I am tellin’ ya, I ain’t takin’ no
responsibility if ol’ spikey serves us Sephiroth sushi for dinner.”
Red 13 watched as
Barret exited the room.
The door silently
clicked shut causing the room to fall into a peaceful silence once more. He
glanced at the page and the lines of words printed on the white paper then
frowned. There was a slight uneasiness building up in him. It was the same
feeling he encountered when he was fought the one winged angel in the final
battle.
For the life of
him, Red couldn’t seem to piece together the puzzle that lie before him. They
had almost everything except the motive.
The attack on
Nibelhiem, reappearance of the WEAPONs, Cid’s sudden bout of mako poisoning, Sephiroth,
the papers in the lab and Hojo’s visit to Shinra to claim what little
information the group had managed to gather.
Mako, monsters,
WEAPONs, human organs and Hojo.
A thin thread that
linked them together was missing.
He growled under
his breath, more out of annoyance rather than anything else.
“What is going
on here? Hojo, what are you plotting this time?”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a secluded room
somewhere inside Highwind, a pale man became a temporary resident of a
comfortable armchair. The narrow table in front of the chair was littered with
dissembled guns in all stages. Long raven black hair fell into the deep red
eyes. A gloved hand moved impatiently upwards to flick the dark strands away
while its clawed brother continued its task headless of the noisy repairs that
were being made onto the ship. The clashes and hammerings of metal except far
off yells from a certain blonde Highwind captain were all muted by the man’s
fierce concentration of caring for his well loved guns.
Vincent’s weapons
had been with him even before he was a Turk.
Although his life
as a Turk was rather foggy due to the fact that he had been in that accursed
coffin for so many years but his love for his guns had never faded through
time’s passing.
He stared at a
small, thin scratch on the smooth black metal surface, wondering idly how did
it get there in the first place. Rarely did his equipment receive any damages
especially his beloved guns. Summarizing that it could have been caused by an
unnoticed blunder on his part, the silent man set about polishing the tiny mar
away.
As he was just about to place the worn cloth
against the cool metal, Vincent’s eyes widened a fraction before his head
jerked up.
‘What…?’
An empty room met
his surprised gaze.
“Is this a ghost of
my foolish imagination?” he wondered quietly to himself.
The gun found
itself back onto the table while the red eyes stared at the steel unseeingly
for a moment. The presence once again bloomed a split second before vanishing.
Vincent stood up almost in shock. The beast in him snarled, disapproving what
had just fleetingly touched his mind. His claw fingers, without their owner
noticing, curled into a tight ball tearing the already worn cloth.
“No, my imagination plays no part in this.”
Vincent turned to
the nearby window and frowned.
Deep crimson eyes
stared unseeingly into the horizon as though they were trying to coax the skies
into letting him view what they were shielding.
“What is it that I
feel yet cannot see? What is this warning cry in my heart?”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ice-cream stall…
A pair of teenagers
kissing…
Hotdog stall…
A couple holding
hands…
Vending machine…
Boy buying a girl a
soda…
Arcade game…
Boyfriend playing
while his girlfriend watches…
Another arcade
game…
‘Is it my
imagination or is this place packed with scores of young lovers?’ Cloud
wondered idly as he trailed a few steps behind Sephiroth. From the amount of
people walking hand in hand he had seen, the blonde ex-trooper could roughly
estimated that there were thousands of couples that came here to see the
sights. For an instant, the blonde contemplated the possibility of the amount
of visitors rising during Valentines Day. Judging by the herds of humans
flocking around with no an inch of floor to be seen, Cloud would say by not
much.
But then again,
crazy things bound to happen from time to time.
The blonde
ex-trooper’s senses prickled uncomfortably, swiftly informing its owner someone
was watching them. While his hands were already seeking out the familiar grip
of his Buster Sword, Cloud glanced around before catching the source of his
discomfort. A teenage girl with dark hair stared in a rather strange manner at
the duo then started giggling madly, a light blush coloring her cheeks.
The blonde
ex-trooper stifled a sigh.
The day was
certainly taking a strange turn.
After the ice
cream, his silver haired companion had been more than contented to walk
aimlessly around Gold Saucer. Not that Cloud minded getting away from the
arcade games but…
Blue eyes turned a
little more confused as another passing couple shot them an odd look.
‘Why is everyone
giving me that particularly strange look today? Or are those looks pointed at
Sephiroth? Haven’t they seen anyone with silver hair before? Or perhaps it’s
his height? Don’t think these people recognized him anyway otherwise they would
be running while screaming their lungs out by now…’ Cloud thought in
bewilderment, slightly distracted by another curious look shot towards him.
He peeked at his
silver haired companion who seemed completely immune to the looks that they
were getting before frowning.
‘Wait…they
are…staring at both of us?’
Somewhere he could
hear screams bordered with laughter coming as a roller coaster finished its
final loop around its circuit mingling with the sound of Sephiroth’s quiet
voice. His mind paid them no attention as he searched for an accurate response
to his own question.
‘They are looking
at us…but why would they be looking at us…’
He glanced at a few
couples, seeking the answer to his question. He came up with nothing. There
were only pairs of people walking around an amusement part, so what could be so
wrong about two men wandering around as well?
Blue eyes blinked
once, twice then widened.
Couples…
Two men…
Couples…
Something that felt
very much like a mental brick tied with the answer to his question dropped
squarely on the blonde’s head. His leisure pace became slower and slower until
it reached a complete stop.
‘They think we
are…are…?!’
“Cloud?”
“Eh?” the blonde
head jerked up at the sound of his voice being called. His gaze met a pair of
rather concerned green eyes. Immediately, Cloud noticed that he had stopped
long enough for Sephiroth to walk quite a distance away. He shook his head a
little, kicking his suspicions to a corner.
‘Besides, even if
they were…its not like Sephiroth and I were…anything like Cid and Vincent…’
That particular
thread of thought proved to be a bad idea.
The far-too-recent
image of the said duo along with a fairly rumpled bed and some very interesting
noises popped was more than obliged to appear. Cloud tried his utmost best to not
turn completely red in the face.
‘No! No!…don’t
think of that…think of fat hippos doing hulas…what the oven looked like
after it exploded…a chocobo in a drag!…think…’
“Cloud?”
“EH?!” Wide sky
blue eyes snapped opened. The blonde ex-trooper’s voice was bordering on the
edge of full-blown panic despite its owner’s attempts to coax some calm into
it. Somewhere at the back of his mind, Cloud rather proud he did not turn and
start running in the opposite direction…and not stopping until he fell off the
ends of the earth.
‘…think…’
“Cloud, are you
ill?” Sephiroth mildly frowned, his face filling the blonde’s line of vision.
‘…think
Sephiroth?…’
Unwittingly the ‘fever’
inducing mental image wavered a little before coming back full force. This time
the two occupants on the bed possessed an uncanny resemblance to Sephiroth and
his own self wearing far too little clothes.
With the special
sound effects in the background.
Subconsciously,
Cloud damned Zack for all the sexual innuendos the dark haired man had ever
made, the rather graphic movie Zack had given to him for his 15th birthday
along with his own rather wild imagination.
“Uh….”
The temperature of
the blonde ex-trooper’s face hopped several degrees higher as the blonde, to
his horror, noted that other body parts were starting to pay attention
to his thoughts.
The thought of
running to the ends of the earth was beginning to sound really appealing.
“Cloud?”
Sephiroth was so
near that Cloud could feel the silky silver strands tickling the tips of his
nose.
Cloud knew he
should be doing something. Walking, talking, breathing…anything other
than just standing there and gaping like a fish out of the water. His brain
digested the command and ordered the gears to start working again.
Unfortunately, the gears produced a high-pitched squeak that sounded
frighteningly like the sound the mog from the arcade game made before all coherent
thoughts wobbled unsteadily in a perfect imitation of the jelly he used to
enjoy as a teenager.
“Are you alright? You are all flushed,”
Sephiroth asked, placing a cool hand on the other’s forehead.
The shock of a cool
object making contact with his overheated skin was enough to drag back Cloud’s
ability to think once more.
Blue eyes blinked
several times in relief as the ‘very disturbing’ mental image faded away. Not
losing any time, Cloud’s acute senses informed him of the gentle pressure on
his forehead. The sunbeam colored eyebrows rose slightly in surprise.
Not at eased with
any physical contact at the moment, Cloud took several steps backwards before
his wretched mind could concoct any other images that would drive him into
speechless stupor again.
‘Was that a look
of…hurt on Sephiroth’s face?’
“I…am fine,” the
blonde ex-trooper muttered while fidgeting with the straps of his leather
gloves.
Sephiroth just
lifted one eyebrow in disbelief.
“Really, I am
fine,” Cloud’s voice was a bit more decisive. The heat on his face had lowered
slightly. He was quite sure his cheeks were still bright red. “I was
just…thinking of something…something important.”
‘Thinking…yeah
right.’ His brain sarcastically remarked.
Ardently, the
smaller man wished that the little voice in his head came with a ‘on’ and ‘off’
button.
“Nothing to worry
about. I am okay,” Cloud shrugged, “You mentioned something before I
got…distracted?”
Sephiroth looked as
though he was about to argue but then decided against it. He looked at the
scores of people crowding around the place, while ignoring the odd stares
directed at both of them, and spared the blonde at his side another glance. “As
I was saying, is there a more effective way of seeing all of Gold Saucer? This
whole place is much too big to see by foot.”
“I suppose we could
use the gondola,” Cloud said thoughtfully. “We can see almost everything up in
the air.”
“Perfect. Lead the
way.”
“Sure.” He turned
around, fully intending to take his pale companion to their new destination.
‘Nothing violent
about the Gondola. Plus no one can give us odd stares over there with the
enclosed area and all. Not unless they want to climb up 100 meters of steel
which I severely doubt even the craziest would even try.’ The blonde ex-trooper
happily thought. ‘And I can see the chocobo track from up there. Perfect’
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lines and lines of
small words marched across the white background in a merciless parade. They
continued from one piece of document to another, frighteningly similar to the
Shinra workload that he had to deal with.
Numbers jumbled up with words creating a language that only the most
knowledgeable or the maddest would hope to understand. To make things even
worse, the hand that had written those papers was not consistent. Countless of
times the script was different and the format of the documents changed so
frequently as if the writer was distracted. The most important notes were often
found on the ear-dogged edges of the paper, faded and entirely difficult to
read.
Reeve rubbed his
temples as he closed his eyes for a moment.
He had been reading
all the information he could gather ever since he located Cait Sith in a quiet
corner somewhere in Highwind. Thanks to the yellow pieces of notes stuck to the
documents by his own scientists, he was able to somewhat grasp a vague idea on
what sort of language were the documents were written in.
Reeve was sure
without the brightly colored notes, he would have been in the middle of tearing
his hair out while trying to just read the damn thing.
Dark eyes opened
once more.
A pen tapped
against the wooden surface of his desk.
The fact that Sephiroth’s
masamune was still being kept in Junon made him feel uneasy. It didn’t really
surprise him when Cloud did not ask him to destroy the sword or even request to
see it. But it was just rather unnerving to know that the sword that made his
life hell was under his possession.
‘Not possession,’
Reeve corrected himself, ‘I am just guarding it for a while until…its owner
wants it back?’
A long pause.
If Sephiroth turned
into his evil self once more and demanded for his masamune, there would not be
much Reeve could do to prevent it from happening. But if that did occur, he was
sure as hell going to put his life on the line to preventing it from happening.
After the repairs on Highwind were done, he didn’t know where would the group
be heading. Hojo did a very good job in hiding whatever mischief he was
plotting. There were no clues or leads that they could follow. The mad
scientist had stolen most of the information they had. They were left high and
dry. Try as he might, Reeve was pretty sure he wasn’t able to see what was
about to happen next.
A faint smile
appeared on the tired man’s face as he leaned back against his chair.
“We will see what
happens,” the President murmured under his breath before heaving a sigh.
Besides, he was
lousy at predicting the future.
With aloud sigh, he
pushed his attention back onto the documents sitting in front of him. Reeve
hoped that there was something in that pile that would help them to
understand what the hell was going on.
The President of Shinra
stared back at the ungodly lump of papers and at the drunken looking
handwriting again.
One hand picked up
another sheet.
One clump of
numbers over on the right told him that some sort of blood type was used.
Somewhere in the middle of paper were a few hastily scribbled notes on some
unknown machine. Another clump of numbers with a few words riddled in looked
like some form of code. The only thing that kept Reeve’s nerves jittery were
the massive amount of statistics that seemed to keep on multiplying. Again the
usage of mako was astounding.
“Something big,”
Reeve muttered to himself while taking another glance at the document, “Huge…it
has to be near a reactor to be able to draw out such big amounts of
mako…”
A tiny sentence
caught the man’s eye.
**A946_3CF23**
A distant bell rang
in Reeve head. He had seen this code before somewhere.
“Where? Where? In
Shinra?”
He had wondered
idly if it was a good thing or a bad thing some of the documents they found in
Nibelhiem was with Cloud therefore not taken away by Hojo. Even some
5-year-olds’ handwriting were much more understandable compared to this one.
Carefully he jotted down the code on a blank piece of paper.
Dark eyes squinted
at the pile in front of him before shutting close again. Without the help of
sight, Reeve’s hand expertly found its way to the nearest phone on his desk.
“Reeve here. See if
you can find anything in the mako records with a serial code A946_3CF23.”
The receiver
dropped back onto the handset with a loud click. Quickly, he made a mental note
to ask Cloud if he had the faintest notion on what the hell was an A946_3CF23.
His free hand groped
around in his drawer for a painkiller.
The bunch of documents was giving him a
headache.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 steps that would lead
to what could be called his own private hell.
There was a certain
time in your life when you just knew that the gods were laughing at you.
And right now, Cloud was absolutely sure the gods were rolling on the floor
while laughing at his plight.
Hysterically.
All he could hope
was that he would get out of this miss which he unwittingly gotten himself into
with at least a shred of dignity.
And those gods
would suffer a stitch on their sides for a handful of days.
Just 3 steps.
The line in front
of the gondola was fairly long. People were chattering excitedly while they
leaned against the gold railings, waiting for their turn. The gigantic machine
gave a tired protest as a wooden carriage stopped in front of the line. The
door opened and a pair of giggling teenagers appeared. There was a suspicious
red stain on the boy’s cheek that looked remarkably like lipstick. Yet another
pair of young adults hopped into the small-enclosed space.
3…
Cloud tried not to
think of anything as he allowed his feet to take the 3 steps that would take
him to the front of the line.
There were several
times in his life when he ardently wished that the ground would just swallow
him up whole. He could remember that fateful day when he stumbled into Zack’s
room while the older man was sleeping butt-naked, he felt like vanishing into
thing air. For a month, Zack had wondered why did Cloud’s face turn a complete
shade of red whenever they met.
But on the whole,
there weren’t many times Cloud found himself in a terribly embarrassing
situation that he couldn’t control.
Right now, Cloud
just wanted to turn into a puddle of water.
“So, you are with
him eh?”
The blonde
ex-trooper blinked and glanced at the source of the voice. The man behind the
controls smirked knowingly and winked. “No worries, the gondola is always best
for some private time.”
No, Cloud wanted to
melt into a puddle of water then vaporize into the air and never to be
seen again.
Ever.
“Good looking lad,
ain’t he,” the man continued jerking his chin at Sephiroth’s direction. He then
grinned at Cloud, seeing the flushed cheeks on the blonde’s face. “Aw, ain’t no
need to be shy now. Ol Tom has seen more than you know. Just make sure you don’t
get too distracted to enjoy the sights ere.”
Check that, Cloud
wanted to die.
Right now.
The blonde inanely
stared at the long drop at the edge of the platform, wondering what Sephiroth
would think if he just hurled himself to his doom.
Unfortunately
another wooden carriage appeared cutting off Cloud’s route to a dramatic death.
“Up you get,” the
man, whom Cloud presumed his name was Tom, grinned widely as he opened the
carriage door with a flourish.
Numbly, the
ex-trooper got into the small wooden enclosure; feeling it swayed a little under
his weight. Cloud then sat, pressing himself as near as possible to the wall. The
floor moved again as Sephiroth entered. The slightest brush of the cotton material
that made up Sephiroth’s trousers on his hand caused Cloud’s eyes to widen. He swallowed
down a panicked laugh that was bubbling up his throat when he realized how
small the carriage actually was.
‘This is really not
a good idea.’
For in instant, the
blonde rattled around with the idea of pleading claustrophobic or even the
insane notion of fearing heights.
Then he paused,
weighing which situation would be more embarrassing; the knowing wink of the
man standing outside and the odd stares from the general public or the barely
an inch apart space he was sharing with the silent man.
Unfortunately, his
decision came a little too late.
Innocent Tom, who
had not seemed to notice Cloud’s discomfort (or had thought it was from jittery
nerves…first time dates, you know?), gave them both a jaunty salute before
closing the small door. There was the smooth sound of engines being started up
again while the carriage began its journey heading away from the platform.
Cloud offered
Sephiroth a tiny smile; tightly pulling back all the nervous energy that was
accumulating in his head for some unknown reason.
There was a
stretched of silence.
Green eyes regarded
the blonde sitting in front of him.
“Cloud?” extremely
calm.
“Yes?” a pitch
higher and it would have been considered a squeak. Cloud winced.
“How did we meet?”
For an instant, the
blonde ex-trooper forgot all about his nervousness as his mind concentrated on
recalling the answer for Sephiroth’s question. While searching for the memory,
Cloud felt rather astounded at all the images of the past, which he managed to
collect throughout the few days. Memories, which he once feared that he had
lost, came back like mists of the night giving way to the sun.
A smile of triumph
appeared on Cloud’s face as he managed to fish out the one he was looking for.
He paused.
Reviewed the
memory.
He blinked.
He glanced at the
patiently waiting Sephiroth.
He paused.
He reviewed the
memory once more.
He blinked again.
‘I am so doomed.’
The
end of Part 3 of Chapter 3
NOTE TO ALL READERS
Please be noted that the
story takes place 6 months after the game. There is also a YAOI content. So to
all readers who do not approve to such pairing or dislike the idea, do not
proceed reading. The authors will not entertain any flames or complains
concerning the yaoi pairing/pairings involved in the fanfic.
Thankyou