Severed

By LoveAnimeForever

The room was too dark, too damp. Even the hunched figure in the corner, with his slitted eyes, could not search out any saving light. No light – no sound, either, save the drip-drop of water from the ceiling, feeding the moss that grew between the cracks in the rugged stone floor. It was sparse – empty, to a disconcerting degree, and Sephiroth did not like it.

His situation wasn't helped by the searing pain in his back, rushing across his nerves, screaming of weakness and vulnerability. Those bastards… They – the noble soldiers of Shinra Corp – had sawn off his wing, and they'd relished his screams as much as he'd relished theirs. Screams that echoed in his head, reminding him of what he must not forget… Maddening, frightening, screams that he couldn't put a time to anymore, even though the water was counting the seconds for him… And every move made his body cry out in agony, added another crack to his already broken soul.

He struggled to his feet, the chains gripping his wrists clanking in protest. Too heavy, too tight…

What would 'Kaa-san say, or the Remants? Reduced to such a pathetic state that he couldn't even hold his own against steel chains? They were once playthings, easily ripped through, but they'd injected him with Lifestream-inhibiting drugs, and now he couldn't even block out the pain he would otherwise have cherished, couldn't even stand upright without shaking like a child waiting for punishment…

Punishment. Fitting. Crumpled on the floor again, Sephiroth couldn't deny that it was just. He was too exhausted to fight the screams, too tired to block out the sound of his own pain, on constant loop in his brain. The feeling of the stem of his wing being sawed through, each agonizing stroke severing another nerve, loosing another blood current…

He arched his back, coughing breathlessly, and the red that ran from his lips flowed to join the already growing pool on the floor. He would have leant against the wall, and curled up against it, but he didn't trust its cleanliness, considering the floor. What conditions they'd left him in… If ever he'd captured what he'd been after, Sephiroth would have been kinder. Certainly a few broken bones would have been in order, to make his pet submit, but he wouldn't have severed a limb…

Oh, it hurt, it hurt…

The door groaned open. There was no blinding light from without – darkness reigned even over his captors. Sephiroth couldn't bring himself to care, couldn't find the strength to even look up; his visitor entered the room and shut the heavy metal behind him.

He knelt down beside Sephiroth, and gently tilted his chin up. There was no life in those silver eyes, only despair, the despair that he had so thirsted to give…

Sephiroth hated to be seen this way, but what strength had he to resist? His tainted soul was drawn to that blonde hair that seemed like the sun, blue eyes that radiated hope, those cool, light hands that soothed his bloody back.

Yes – after all that had happened – of all people – Cloud still cared.

Silver on blue

Silver on blonde

Taste my blood

Taste my tears

Run your hands down

My scarred back

And remind me what it felt like

To fly

Metal on metal

Heavy on lithe

Rip through my flesh

Rip through my soul

Steal away all my

Joy

And remind me what it felt like

To cry

Blood and tears

Flesh and soul

Bind us together

Bind us apart

Come, come, come

My son

And remind me what it felt like

To die