"Be careful Cloud." Tifa stood from the shaky floors of the High Wind. Cloud looked back, gripping his sword. It hurt him to see his friends scattered about the fallen ship. Random sparks flew from electric power lines that had been snapped from the impact of the crash. Meteor had hit. They all survived. All including Sephiroth. He couldn't allow this.
"Stay here." Cloud called back, kicking debris from his way. "I'll be back."
Storm Clouds In My View
A Story by Angelistical06
Disclaimer- I do not own any Final Fantasy VII characters or titles.
Chapter one (Cloud's POV)
I step out onto the cool earth and stop to soak in my surroundings. Well, if you can consider what I saw as surroundings. It was nothing but a pathetic wasteland. Everything that was once green harbored an unnatural gray tint. Even the sky was just as lifeless. I found it surprising as I walked from the fallen High Wind, that the grounds were cold. You would think after something as big as a meteor hitting the Earth, it would fry everything. Yet again, God knows how long I've been knocked out with the others. It just as well could have cooled off by now.
"I know you're out here," I spoke reluctantly. Why did he survive?
"Show yourself."
Nothing replied. I was half relieved. The previous battle had wiped out all my energy. It took a lot out of me just to drag myself out the ship. But, I had a job to complete. No way could I let that monster stay alive. Sephiroth had to die. After another step, I stopped to take another look around. It was hard to see. The air was thick with fog and dust. But Sephiroth was still out here. Probably waiting for me to let my guard down. Damn! How can he still be able to fight? Where did he draw his energy from? If anything, he should be in worse shape than me. I banged him up pretty good before Meteor hit.
My eyes instantly picked up something in the distance. I couldn't quite see what it was. But I had a feeling.
"Sephiroth?" I squinted to see better.
The figure was getting bigger and bigger as it got closer to me; all the while my heart began beating faster and faster. It was time for the final battle. I could tell my spirit was up to it, but my body had other plans.
Finally, I recognized him fully. He halted about eight feet away from me. His Masamune drug the ground behind him. A gust of cold air flipped his steel gray hair from his blood stained face. Green Mako enhanced eyes glimmered with dull familiarity; they weren't the eyes of a maniac but the eyes of a once respected man.
"Cloud…We meet again." His words stung me from the inside out.
I slightly lifted my sword to show I was ready to take him on. I had nothing to say to him. I just wanted him gone. He looked at me for a moment, as if my actions confused him somehow. His shirtless chest was bloodied from my last attack, it was amazing how he could even still stand on his feet.
My eyes narrowed. Why hasn't he attacked yet and why was he looking at me like that?
"What are you waiting for?" My patience was running thin.
"I don't want to fight you anymore." He spoke softly, almost remorseful.
"You bastard." For some reason that angered me. "After all the hell you've put me through…after all the countless people you've killed! You dare stand here and say you don't want to fight!"
He looked away for a second, my words must have cut his very soul. When he did look back to me, he smiled dimly. It was a hurtful smile. He clutched the Masamune with both hands and entered his fighting stance. My body immediately launched at him. With a mighty swoop, I bring down my sword in hopes of hitting him. Of course I didn't, Sephiroth simply raised his weapon and blocked it. I land back on my feet and quickly charge him. He side steps out the way. Thinking fast, I halt and jab my sword backwards, towards his torso. Unfortunately, he was still as sharp as ever. Sephiroth hops back and slams the bottom of his sword down against the top of my wrist. The sound of my wrist breaking echoes through my head as my Buster sword falls to the ground with a heavy thud.
"A stupid mistake." He speaks as I fall to one knee. I refuse to cry out in pain. Instead, I clutch my teeth in agony and grip my wrist in my other hand. I can't believe I let my own fatigue lose such an important battle as this. I hold my head down in shame, forcing myself to look at the ground. I couldn't face him.
"You may have killed me, but you'll never win this war." I speak furiously. Soon the feel of sharp steel slicing through my head will engulf me. At least, that's what I expected. But instead light laughter was heard.
"Must everything be an ongoing battle with you?"
I look up finally. He was just standing there, looking up into the darkening sky. I decide to stand to my feet, if he wasn't going to kill me then I would try again! While he viewed the skies, I scattered to grab my sword with my left hand. Either I was tired or I'm stronger with my right arm, but that sword felt like it weighed a ton.
He was watching me now. Watching me struggle to lift my weapon. So what! Let him watch. Soon he'd be watching himself die…
"This is still a battle…I'm not through yet!" I cried, loosely swinging my blade at him. He moves once again, letting the sword plunge into the ground. I yank at the handle, desperately trying to withdraw it, but it wouldn't budge. Yet again I feel his cold eyes on me. I then try to use my injured hand as well. Regretting it instantly. The pain shot through me like lightening. A string of curses exploded pass my lips as I let go of the handle.
"This fight isn't necessary…" The ex-general sighed.
I glare at him. What the hell was he talking about? But before I could ask, my body gives up on me and I collapse to the hard dirt. I screamed loudly, landing on my broken wrist was a nasty surprise.
"Are you through now?" My once idol asks me, kneeling beside me. My aching body turns to face him, yet I say nothing. I'm totally disgusted with him, with myself…Just at the whole situation. Without thinking, I spit in his face. He closes his eyes in anger and stands up, towering above me. Briskly he lifts his foot and brings it down upon me, darkening my whole world…
I'm not sure if it was hours or days later, but I awakened in a bed. My head hurts like hell and I can't move. When the paralysis wears off some, I turn my head to see where I exactly was. It was hard to tell but it seemed to be a room in the Shinra mansion. I lift my aching hand to see my wrist firmly but neatly wrapped in a bandage. Gently reaching up, I felt another bandage around my head.
"What the hell is going on?" I say out loud.
"So we're awake?" A voice startles me. Sephiroth sits across the room, reading an old book. It was one of the books I've seen in the basement of this place.
I look away from him, trying to figure out why he hasn't killed me yet.
"You've been sleeping for three days now. Almost had me worried." He speaks yet again, turning the page of his book.
"Three days?" It sounded so foreign to me. But if it had been three days, what happened to my friends? Did Sephiroth find and kill them? I instantly sit up, ignoring all pain that flooded through me.
"Lay back down." He ordered, his eyes still hadn't left the book.
I sling the sheets off and stand up. My head starts to swarm violently and I fall down from vertigo. I hear him sigh angrily and walk over to me. I tense up at his touch as he lifts me back onto the bed.
"I told you to lay back down." He mumbles as if I was a disobedient child. "You're too weak to be moving about." He tucks me back in and grabs my arm. I remain quiet, observing his odd behavior. He begins to unravel my bandaged wrist and looks at it closely. It was still badly swollen. With his thumb, he applies pressure to it.
"Ah, damn it!" I snarled trying to pull it away. His grip wouldn't relinquish it. Instead, he reaches over and grabs some more bandages and proceeds to re-wrap it.
"That's a nasty fracture." He speaks calmly, carefully finishing his deed. After I failed to reply, he got up from the bed and removed his shirt. For some reason that made me uncomfortable. Adding to the fact I only had on my boxers. I grabbed the covers and pulled them up to my chin. Just in case he gets any randy ideas.
"What are you doing?" I spoke harshly. He looked over to me with clueless innocence.
"I have my own injuries to see to." He spoke accusingly. I watched as he unraveled his own bloodied bandages. He winced slightly when a part of it stuck to his healing gashes. After a relieved smile, he let the soiled wrappings hit the floor and turned to me as if he was presenting what I had done to him. Immediately I turned my head the other way. It wasn't really a pretty sight.
"You deserve every cut… plus more…" I spoke uneasily while I felt the bed sink gently on the other side. That spooky feeling returned and I tried by best to scoot as far as I could to the edge.
"Is that anyway to speak to the person that saved you?" He questioned from the other side. I didn't reply again. I just laid there and listen to him rip bandages and wrap himself up. After he was done, all had fallen silent. I looked up at the ceiling trying to piece all this together. As much as I hated it, I was stuck here with him until my body healed. A hostage to my own ailments.
"Why?" My lips moved before I knew it. He was sitting with his back to me. The silver hair that cascaded down his bare back shifted as he turned his head slightly.
"Why…what?" He asked gently.
My blue eyes glazed over with fury. "Why do you have me here! Why are you taking care of me as if I'm your… your child or little brother…or something!" I ranted, gripping the sheets.
"Calm down…" He answered me casually. This only made me more angry. I shot back up, purely fueled by my own rage.
"You're completely insane! And you better not have harmed my friends! Or I swear-!…" My head started swarming again and I felt my eyes roll up. I passed out for a second time.
Yet again I came to in the same bed and room. Only this time the room is dark. It was night. Remembering my condition, I ease my way up into a sitting position. It seemed like Sephiroth wasn't here. I probably pissed him off. This makes me chuckle. I was feeling a little better now, which was the only good thing I could see in this scenario. I quietly swing by bare feet to the cold wooden floors and stand. It was quite chilly in that room. The bed was keeping me warm I guess. Quickly I made my way to the closed door, expecting it to be locked. I held my breath and twisted the knob. To my surprise I heard a click and was able to open the door.
Cold air greeted me as I walked down the halls, still in nothing but boxers. I crossed my arms over my exposed chest and looked around. This house was just about completely dark. Once my eyes adjusted to the lighting, I made my way further down the hall. Sephiroth must have went out of his way to clear the mansion of all critters because I hadn't encountered any random battles. I came across the second bedroom soon. The door was ajar and a faint glow from a light came shining through. Carefully, I walked up to it and peaked in. From all I could see, there was a chair with a coat hanging off it and something that looked like a bookshelf.
I decided to open the door a bit more. The room was empty. No Sephiroth. Yet, curiosity pushed me further and I fully entered the room. The floors creaked loudly as I slowly stepped closer to the bookshelf. Wasn't this the bookshelf that led to the basement? I trailed a finger along the spines of the many books. Which book was the switch? My finger withdrew fast. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. I wasn't at full health so I couldn't afford angering Sephiroth right now. I'd play along until I was ready to kill him.
I exited the room and pulled the door up to the same opening in which I found it. At that instant, I remembered I hadn't urinated in probably over a week and nature was calling. I bumped around the second floor until I found the bathroom. I kicked the seat up and was about to relieve myself when I heard a faint sound. This scared me a little but I proceeded to use the bathroom.
After I flushed, I stepped back into the dim hall. I heard another sound. Like faint scuffling of feet. I quickened my pace and looked straight ahead. The sound grew louder.
"Sephiroth?" I called out. More scuffling. Now I was officially spooked. "This isn't funny."
I jogged back into my room and quickly shut the door, leaning against it. This mansion isn't the best place to be. But for now I'll have to deal with it.
I walked back over to the bed and sat down, holding my face in my hands. My wrist ached dully along with my head. How long will I be able to last like this before my sanity gives in? I lift my head and slowly looks around the room, over-looking the fact that the door was now wide open and a tall dark figure stood in the doorway. Once it hit me, I froze completely. The color washed out of my skin and a knot formed in my throat.
"Why are you sitting in the dark?" The shadow spoke and turned the bedroom light on. I was relieved to see it was Sephiroth, as bizarre as that sounds.
"God! Don't you make noise!" I scream nervously and ran a hand through my yellow spiky hair. I needed a cigarette, even though I didn't smoke.
"I didn't mean to startle you, Cloud." He spoke and leaned against the door frame.
"Well it's hard not to scare someone in this place!" I shot back and threw the first thing I saw at the wall. He sighed at me and retrieved my pillow I had childishly flung. He then sat in a chair, placing the pillow in his lap. It was strange how he felt so casual around me. As if he believed I would never catch him off guard and rip his head off.
"You hungry?" He asked crossing both his arms and legs. I remembered long ago I once saw him do that, back when I wanted to be his very being. I thought it was so cool…how crazy was I?
"No, I'm not." I sat there, then it hit me. "But I do want some answers!" He looked away briefly, then back to me.
"Like what?" He spoke calmly as usual.
"Like why do you have me here? And where are my friends?"
He placed the pillow behind his head and closed his eyes. "Your little pals are fine. The reason I have you with me will become clear in time."
That wasn't what I wanted to hear. I was glad my friends were ok, but what about me?
"Ok, one more question, how much of your sanity do you posses now?" He opened a green eye at me. I must have threw a low blow.
"Are you trying to be funny?" His voice had a dark undertone. It didn't scare me though.
"No, not really. But I would like an answer. Are we sane or insane Sephiroth?" I really hit a nerve because now he was standing over me. I'll admit, it wasn't too smart to tick him off when he could easily pound me into the ground. But, he was making me mad. Avoiding my question like that.
"Fine…fine. You're talking to the "sane" Sephiroth." He was controlling his anger. I didn't like this. So I pushed on.
"So you're the one I used to admire. Not the one that lost it and started killing people I loved? Because I don't really care for that one. He's a prick that deserves to get every fiber of his being beat." That had to have made him mad. I wanted to see him as angry as he made me!
He crossed his arms and smirked at me. "That's really cute, Cloud. But whatever you're trying to pull isn't going to work." After a quick pat on my head he turned, then paused. "But here, if this is what you wanted." With that he balled his hand into a fist and landed a decent punch in my abdomen. I crumbled into a small ball on the bed.
No matter how hungry I got, I continued to refuse to eat anything he brought me. It was going on the second week and I hadn't eaten or drank a thing. My body was like putty. I could barely move, I couldn't keep my eyes open for no longer than ten seconds and my mouth was beyond parched. True, I was killing myself but I felt so miserable, death was looking like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
Today was a gloomy day. The room was barely lit by the gray daylight from outside. The sound of rain tapping on my window was gently putting my mind at ease. Not too much later, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps pounding down the hall. Then my door swung open. I couldn't quite see, but I knew who it was.
"Enough is enough!" The silver haired man hollered at me. He held a tall cup in one hand and a tube in the other.
I gasped a "Piss off." But I don't think he quite heard me. Instead he straddled me, pinning me down, preventing any struggle and forced my jaws open. I tried to protest, but I was too weak compared to his strength.
"Tried to give you free will…" He spoke as he shove the tube down my throat. I gagged and kicked. Ignoring my yelps and muffled chokes, he poured the contents of the cup down the tube and into my stomach. When the cup was emptied, he removed the tube. I coughed vehemently for a few seconds before I felt sick. Obviously he noticed it too, for he clamped a hand over my mouth.
I tried to shake him off, as I felt the substance that was forced down my throat come back up. But he was too heavy. I wasn't going to swallow; that is until he pinched my noise closed as well.
So I only had two options: suffocate to death or swallow. Of course I chose the latter. Once he was sure I had swallowed all the fluid, he removed his hands from my face. I opened my tear stricken eyes and looked at the man still anchored on top me. I wanted to shout death threats, I wanted to jump up and thrash him senseless! …Alas, all I could do was gasp for air and cough every now and again.
"I don't approve of force-feeding…" He reached over and grabbed a towel. "But you left me no choice." Soothingly, he wiped my mouth and cheeks with it. My eyes locked in on his with a fiery glare unknown to anyone with blue eyes. I don't like being forced to do anything. Especially by him.
"What..was…that?" I managed to hoarsely speak. He threw the towel to the side of the bed and unpinned me from my spot.
"If I tell you, you might get sick on me again." was his reply as he cleaned some of the unknown nourishment from off his hands and shirt. I rolled over to my side, trying to erase the horrible moment from my mind. I would eat from now on. I'm never going to let that happen again.
"You really need to try to eat more often. I didn't necessarily enjoy that." The ex-general spoke again. It wasn't like I believed him or anything. Deep down inside I bet he enjoyed every minute of it. I'll get my day though. He'll pay for all the hurt he has caused me.
I awoke with a start and a yell. After a few seconds, I realized it was all a dream. My loosely wrapped hand reached up and held my damp forehead. The sheets had been tossed around and my pillow was missing. A long sigh left me as I flopped back down. It was that Aeris dream again. What was it, the third time I've had that same dream? Every time I dreamt it, I couldn't move while Aeris got slaughtered my that maniac Sephiroth. As if my feet were bonded to the floor, I can only watch and yell as he kills her and looks at me with that smirk…That arrogant smirk…I hate him.
"Having a bad dream, Cloud?" I look over to see him sitting in his favorite chair. I must have awakened him as well.
"Got to hell." I snarl at him. The fact that he was present after my nightmare wasn't helping the issue at all. He only held his arms and legs out in a stretch, not acknowledging my request.
"Maybe you should get out of bed. Take a walk…" He got up and walked towards the door. "Or a bath or something."
"Hey, screw you buddy!" I sat up. It wasn't my fault I hadn't bathe in a month now. He stopped and faced me, a kind look crossed his face.
"Nice to know you consider me your friend." I snorted and looked away. Let him think that.
I sat down into the steaming hot water. It felt great to my stiff and achy muscles. The color in my skin was slowly coming back and my strength was gradually returning. It wouldn't be long before I could get him. It was too bad I had no idea where my sword was. It didn't matter, just as long as he dies. I reach over and grasp the bar of soap and lather it into my wash cloth. I thought about what he told me earlier as I washed my body. He suggested I go for a walk. This struck me as peculiar. Wouldn't he fear that I would flee? Maybe he's so sure that I won't be able to escape him that he doesn't worry. That sucks. I take the soap and lather it in my hair, it wasn't like I saw shampoo anywhere.
When I finished, I got out the tub and wrapped a towel around my waist. My spirits were high due to my progression in energy, I would need it to bang Sephiroth's skull in. Once I got to my room I dropped my towel and looked around. What clothes do I have to wear?
"Crap…" I mumble as I put the towel back around me. A knock on my door caught my attention. I opened it to see the taller male there. What did he want now?
"I figured you would need clothes to wear." He spoke almost teasingly. I walked from him and sat on the bed, trying to re-style my hair. He tossed me a pair of pants.
"What about boxers?" I asked him. He ran a hand through his hair in thought. Something else I used to admire about him.
"Well, you can wash the ones you just had on and wait for them to dry." He walked across the room to gather some new bandages. "I'm sure you're capable of washing those. I do enough for you, I'm not washing your underwear too."
I pictured him slaving over a sink, washing my boxers. It was a hilarious image, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. It was the first time I truly laughed in a while. It felt weird, yet I couldn't stop.
"You find something funny?" He walks back to me and kneels. "Give me your wrist." I systematically respond, handing over my hand without hesitation. He squeezed it to make sure it was healing correctly, then proceeded to wrap it back up. I sat there, watching him quietly. It was beginning to feel almost natural for him to come in and bandage my wrist. He looked up at me briefly, smiled and looked back down. I blushed for some reason I wasn't sure of.
"Are you almost done?" I asked him hastily. He was taking his sweet time for some reason.
"Just a sec…" He looked around and noticed that he left the scissors somewhere. With his teeth, he bit down on the excess dressing and ripped it. Then tucked and taped the end neatly.
I lifted my hand and viewed my wrapped wrist. It felt a lot better now. I was now able to move my fingers again.
"You're pretty good at this, huh?" He stood and admired his handy work before exiting my room.