![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anyssia
Title: Guide
Author:anyssia
Character/Pairing: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Vincent. Eventually, Cloud/Zack/Seph
Fandom/Spoilers: Final Fantasy VII, Meteor Crisis.
Genre: adventure, what-if, slash
Disclaimer: not mine or I would have killed Hojo a long time ago!
Status: ch6/?, 2'700 words, 08/16/2011
Rating: some violence, G
Beta (s):![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lucime and jameva. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Summary: Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain.
Previous Chapters: Guide's Master Post. 01, 02, 03, 04, 05
Crossposted at:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
crisis_hardcore, ff7, ffvii_yaoi, FFnet
Previously in Guide:
(quick, informal summary, because, really, I didn’t even remember what I had written just before, so I can only imagine for my readers... ^^;;)
In the previous chapters, Sephiroth showed up unexpectedly in the basement of the ShinRa mansion while Vincent and Cloud were talking quietly. They talked a bit but something happened, Sephiroth went bat shit crazy and Cloud managed to clonk him on the head by sheer, dumb luck.
When the General woke up, looking just a bit saner, the other two proceeded to explain what Hojo had done here and what he had left behind, with the help of the various reports that they had retrieved and sorted.
Also, Cloud’s young body was a bit too easily swayed by the General’s beautiful green eyes, much to Cloud’s eternal mortification. Just sayin’ ;p
Chapter 6 – A Voice in his Head
“... so Hojo inseminated Vincent’s ex-girlfriend -turned wife to the mad scientist- and used the child as a test subject. Apparently, he meant to observe the alien’s reaction to a human fetus. Sometimes, though, I wonder if he didn’t just use Lucrecia because she was already pregnant.”
Vincent, silent until that point, suddenly spat his tea all over the table.
“What makes you think that, Cloud?” The ex-Turk asked, coughing hard enough to make the General wince in sympathy.
“I don’t need to graduate from college to do the math,” Cloud answered, rolling his eyes. “He wrote that Lucrecia gave birth a month early because of the Jenova cells,” Cloud recalled, leaning forward on the armrest he was sitting on. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she had given birth right when she was meant to. I’d bet my sword that Hojo knew of your affair with her and used your son in his experiments because it was convenient.”
Cloud sat back with a satisfied smile as Vincent took some time to consider this new development. It wouldn't take too long, as he was sure that the man had already thought about this. After all, Cloud’s interest had been piqued by several comments in the same files that Vincent had read.
He was also aware that the ex-Turk had re-read those particular files several times.
Now, as to how Sephiroth was taking this...
Sephiroth finally stopped staring at nothing and turned his cold green eyes to Cloud.
“You believe that Lucrecia lied to Hojo and made him believe that he was my father or that maybe even she wasn't aware of her pregnancy," the General interpreted hesitantly. "So Valentine might be my father, at least, genetically speaking."
Somewhat surprised that Sephiroth had spoken, as he hadn’t said much the entire time Cloud was explaining the reports, Cloud only nodded before turning back toward Vincent.
"That would explain why Hojo seemed to have some personal grunge against you. I mean, from the way he hid all his valuable notes, I’d say that Hojo was as possessive as he was paranoid. I doubt that he’d take well to the discovery that his son was in fact fathered by one of his enemies turned experiment,” Cloud explained with a shrug. This was more suppositions than facts and he was just mentioning it in passing, as he didn’t have any proof. “Anyway, we’d need to do some tests to be sure but we probably couldn't trust the results. Both your bodies have been too heavily modified and experimented on.”
Cloud looked down at the General to get an idea of his reaction and suddenly realized that he was still sitting on the man’s chair. He blushed and wondered why Sephiroth hadn’t told him off, before remembering the other SOLDIER that had come to Nibelheim. He had seemed very friendly; the General was probably used to his casual behavior. Or maybe his fans often took the liberty to intrude into his personal space.
Cloud frowned at himself, wondering if Sephiroth was just ignoring his behavior, like he would for a particularly annoying groupie or if he really didn't mind. The point was moot anyway, because he didn't feel like attracting attention to himself by moving away just now. The discussion was too important to let such petty concerns distract them.
Oblivious to Cloud's wandering thoughts, Sephiroth slowly relaxed back in his chair. He looked thoughtful and Cloud caught him staring pensively at Vincent. For the first time since he had come down to the basement, almost three hours ago, the General didn't look like he would snap at the slightest provocation.
It made Cloud think that maybe, just maybe, things might be all right after all.
Thus, Cloud was totally taken by surprise when he was suddenly and violently sent flying.
He fell against the bookshelf, hard enough that he barely had time to feel the pain before sliding down to the floor and fainting. The last thing he saw was Sephiroth, bent over in his chair, hands gripping his head like claws.
;;;
Cloud woke up to the sound of glass breaking. Startled, he jerked his head up and almost doubled over from the sharp pain that radiated from the back of his head. He stopped moving immediately, breathing slowly, trying to remember what had happened.
It didn’t take him long to put two and two together, especially when he heard Sephiroth’s voice coming from the other side of the room. Apparently, Sephiroth had lost control once again, if the enormous lump that he could feel at the back of his head was any indication.
They had been careless, thinking that it had been an isolated madness once Sephiroth seemed to be back in his right mind. The instant he had relaxed, something had seemed to take over his body, making him attack blindly. Or at least, that’s how Cloud would have described it. Vincent always told him that he had an overactive imagination.
Thankfully, Cloud’s movement didn’t attract the General’s attention. That in itself was enough to send warning bells ringing in Cloud’s mind. He hoped that Vincent had managed to get away from the General, but he couldn’t be sure as he still hadn’t risked opening his eyes. He hadn’t heard Vincent’s voice yet, just Sephiroth’s, shouting and raging. It wasn’t helping him keep his calm or stay optimistic.
There were a few seconds of silence before Cloud heard papers rustling and the sound of heavy files thumping on the floor. He grimaced, thinking back to the long hours he had spent sorting out everything.
Cloud took a shuddering breath while still trying to keep quiet before half-opening an eye.
The room looked as if a tornado had ravaged it. Papers were strewn all over the place and furniture was knocked over.
Sephiroth stood in a corner, one hand holding his head and the other gripping one of the few bookcase still standing as if he was afraid of falling over. He was muttering to himself, low and indistinct. He hadn’t even taken the time to tie up Cloud and Vincent.
Cloud hesitated and stared at him a little longer, trying to decide what he should do while thanking any deity who might be hearing him that the General didn’t look particularly concerned about his perceived enemies’ actions.
The man groaned suddenly, let out a sound that was almost a whine, and dropped to his knees. He didn’t even try to get back up, kneeling on the floor and gripping his head as if he was afraid that it would fall off of his shoulders.
Taking advantage of Sephiroth’s distraction, Cloud slowly looked around the room as much as he could, taking care to move only his eyes and not his body.
There, a pool of red.
A wave of cold sweat broke out all over his body, his heart suddenly trying to jump out of his chest. Cloud almost whimpered in desperation before his brain caught up with his instincts. Several slow, even breaths saved him from hyperventilating like a rookie, even as it gave him some time to realize that the red wasn’t blood but simply Vincent’s damn showy cloak. The young man swallowed the hysterical sob that was working its way out of his throat and shivered in relief.
On the other side of the room, Sephiroth yelled something unintelligible, making Cloud jump in fright.
Cloud brought his attention back to the General, trying to understand what the heck was going on.
Sephiroth was muttering again. Cloud couldn’t hear half of what he was saying, but what he did pick up didn’t particularly make sense.
Sephiroth grabbed papers at random, reading a paragraph here and there, throwing the rest to the side. “Created. I was created using the knowledge of the Cetras!” He half-growled, half-screamed.
Then he jumped back on his feet, banging his head against a shelf and quoting Cloud’s earlier words. “Hojo inseminated Vincent’s ex-girlfriend... Vincent could be my father... No Cetras, only Jenova... But she isn’t a human being, she doesn’t matter, she’s not controlling me...” He repeated, becoming more frantic by the second, as if he were trying to convince himself.
Cloud decided that, sometimes, he would rather be wrong.
;;;
Sephiroth continued arguing with himself for what seemed to be hours.
Afraid that he would be skewered if he made a wrong move, Cloud stayed silent and motionless. His body was growing numb, lying on the cold, damp floor, and his head was throbbing in time with his heartbeat.
Even so, he listened to the man’s one-sided debate, mentally crossing his fingers. He could only hope that Sephiroth would manage to keep his mind on the right track.
The one-sided argument seemed to be running in circles. Sephiroth ranted aloud, beginning a sentence then switching to another subject in the same breath. He stopped talking for long periods at times before suddenly yelling a word or two which didn’t make any sense. Cloud thought that it was a bit like listening to a drowning man; from time to time the General’s old personality surfaced a few seconds but it was steadily being battered down until he didn’t seem to be able to resist anymore.
Cloud stared, sick and horrified, as a part of Sephiroth appeared to be pushing him to lose his calm and to break everything in sight. One moment he was yelling that he was superior to all other life forms, almighty and omnipotent, the next he was muttering about experimentations and scientists, quoting verbatim the descriptions that Cloud had given him earlier about his childhood as a lab rat. The mention that Sephiroth had only made it to ShinRa’s top five because he had been a quiet baby and an obedient pawn for Hojo’s pleasure came up several times during the argument.
Sometimes, Sephiroth just stopped. Stopped moving, stopped talking, stopped breathing.
Those long blank minutes were the worst, because he looked like a living, empty body, or maybe a puppet. Cloud realized that he stopped breathing as well, during those attacks.
Cloud felt powerless and weak, knowing that he was utterly out of his league in this fight and scared out of his mind by this new twist. He could only clutch at the vague thought that, as a military man, Sephiroth should be trained to recognize signs of mental attacks and brainwashing. Maybe it would be enough to keep him from losing it totally.
;;;
It was maybe thirty minutes since Sephiroth had lost his mind, even if it seemed as if it had been hours ago already, but Cloud still couldn’t move. Between the various punches he had taken in the last twenty-four hours, the lack of sleep and his current position on the unforgiving basement floor, his body was sore and tense to the point that he couldn’t open his fist, much less even think about dragging himself behind the relative protection of a nearby armchair.
Of course, the deep seated fear that any movement of his would set off Sephiroth didn’t help him relax at all.
Another glance at the mixed papers that Sephiroth had thrown around convinced him that he had done well to hide Hojo’s more sensitive reports. Through the years, the scientist had become less and less coherent and unbiased. In his last files, the man had been writing of Project J as though it would revolutionize mankind.
Beginning as a simple specimen, Sephiroth had risen to the rank of prototype in Hojo’s mind. Cloud had been horrified when he realized that this madman wasn’t studying Sephiroth’s development anymore, but improving him in the hope of creating a creature as close to being a god as possible.
After a few years, Hojo had even tried to create another ‘Sephiroth’, but neither his own experiments, nor natural sexual reproduction had given him a second puppet. After several failures, Hojo had apparently decided to abandon this line of research. From his comments, Cloud had deduced that the madman had moved to Midgar to try again, but this time by combining Jenova with ShinRa’s grunts. Soon after, the first SOLDIERs had been created.
If Sephiroth had found those monstrous reports, Cloud had little doubt that the man would have broken down completely, without fighting back against whatever was going on inside his head, be it a very real enemy attack or simply his own mental state taking a turn for worse.
That said, Vincent could doubt all he wanted, Cloud was more persuaded than ever that Jenova’s body was still stored up in the reactor. He had no doubt that she was responsible, one way or another, for the General’s current insanity. After all, Sephiroth’s behavior had begun changing right after checking the building.
They had to find a way to destroy the creature, to stop the General from going crazy.
Well, they would have to do it once they found a way to get out of here in one piece. This would be a great time for the other SOLDIER to get here and help them...
Cloud waited a minute in hope, holding his breath, his eyes firmly closed. He probably looked like a child with bowel troubles right now, but he couldn’t care less.
After a moment he opened an eye, focusing on the door, his feeble hope already fading. He rolled his eyes at himself when nothing came. Such coincidences only happened in dreams and to other people. If this were a movie, he would have prayed for Fair to come to the rescue and tada! the SOLDIER would have barged in right that instant.
Of course, something like that would never happen to Cloud.
Annoyed by his own foolishness, Cloud brought his attention back to Sephiroth.
The man’s voice had lost its strength in the last few minutes. Even his body was becoming less and less coordinated and he had let out a few distressing moans.
Worry almost made Cloud go to his aid but he stopped himself at the last moment. If Sephiroth were to attack him now, with Masamune still in hand, he would be skewered before he even got to his knees. The SOLDIER would probably react instinctively, as he was almost too far gone to be aware of what was going on around him.
As Cloud was imagining all the ways in which Sephiroth could kill him – and now he was sure that he did have a concussion –, the General fell to his knees like a stone.
Sephiroth threw back his head and let out a scream, his voice so tortured and full of pain that Cloud felt his eyes water.
Throwing caution to the wind, Cloud pushed himself off the floor, wincing and crying openly in pain, before crossing the room as quickly as he could on all fours. Just as he got close to the SOLDIER, the man collapsed heavily on his side and Cloud barely managed to keep him from banging his head on the stone floor.
Cloud stared down at the unresponsive form, his hand tangled in long, silver locks. He was too shocked to think at first, but soon came back to his senses, his survival instinct kicking him back into movement.
Cloud glance around quickly, taking a second to force his nausea back down at the sudden move, before pushing the General’s sword with a foot, hard enough to make it roll away.
Vincent chose this moment to jump up, apparently none the worse for wear, and he silently slipped the weapon under a bookshelf.
A quiet groan from the General brought Cloud’s attention back to him in a hurry. The man convulsed a couple of times, moaning in pain, before going limp in Cloud’s arms, his eyes staring at the ceiling unblinkingly.
Cloud called out Sephiroth’s name several times, shaking him roughly as panic set in, but Sephiroth didn’t react to any of his efforts. He just lay there, staring at nothing, his pupils so dilated that they almost hid his Mako green irises.
TBC
Sorry for the long wait (and for the cliffhanger ^^;;;). Hope you liked this chapter! :)
--> Next Chapter: 07- Keeping Watch
Author:
anyssiaCharacter/Pairing: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Vincent. Eventually, Cloud/Zack/Seph
Fandom/Spoilers: Final Fantasy VII, Meteor Crisis.
Genre: adventure, what-if, slash
Disclaimer: not mine or I would have killed Hojo a long time ago!
Status: ch6/?, 2'700 words, 08/16/2011
Rating: some violence, G
Beta (s):
lucime and jameva. All remaining mistakes are mine.Summary: Nibelheim's reactor is due for a check-up and sixteen years old Cloud is hired to take the coming soldiers up the mountain.
Previous Chapters: Guide's Master Post. 01, 02, 03, 04, 05
Crossposted at:
crisis_hardcore, ff7, ffvii_yaoi, FFnetChapter 6 – A Voice in his Head
Previously in Guide:
(quick, informal summary, because, really, I didn’t even remember what I had written just before, so I can only imagine for my readers... ^^;;)
In the previous chapters, Sephiroth showed up unexpectedly in the basement of the ShinRa mansion while Vincent and Cloud were talking quietly. They talked a bit but something happened, Sephiroth went bat shit crazy and Cloud managed to clonk him on the head by sheer, dumb luck.
When the General woke up, looking just a bit saner, the other two proceeded to explain what Hojo had done here and what he had left behind, with the help of the various reports that they had retrieved and sorted.
Also, Cloud’s young body was a bit too easily swayed by the General’s beautiful green eyes, much to Cloud’s eternal mortification. Just sayin’ ;p
Chapter 6 – A Voice in his Head
“... so Hojo inseminated Vincent’s ex-girlfriend -turned wife to the mad scientist- and used the child as a test subject. Apparently, he meant to observe the alien’s reaction to a human fetus. Sometimes, though, I wonder if he didn’t just use Lucrecia because she was already pregnant.”
Vincent, silent until that point, suddenly spat his tea all over the table.
“What makes you think that, Cloud?” The ex-Turk asked, coughing hard enough to make the General wince in sympathy.
“I don’t need to graduate from college to do the math,” Cloud answered, rolling his eyes. “He wrote that Lucrecia gave birth a month early because of the Jenova cells,” Cloud recalled, leaning forward on the armrest he was sitting on. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she had given birth right when she was meant to. I’d bet my sword that Hojo knew of your affair with her and used your son in his experiments because it was convenient.”
Cloud sat back with a satisfied smile as Vincent took some time to consider this new development. It wouldn't take too long, as he was sure that the man had already thought about this. After all, Cloud’s interest had been piqued by several comments in the same files that Vincent had read.
He was also aware that the ex-Turk had re-read those particular files several times.
Now, as to how Sephiroth was taking this...
Sephiroth finally stopped staring at nothing and turned his cold green eyes to Cloud.
“You believe that Lucrecia lied to Hojo and made him believe that he was my father or that maybe even she wasn't aware of her pregnancy," the General interpreted hesitantly. "So Valentine might be my father, at least, genetically speaking."
Somewhat surprised that Sephiroth had spoken, as he hadn’t said much the entire time Cloud was explaining the reports, Cloud only nodded before turning back toward Vincent.
"That would explain why Hojo seemed to have some personal grunge against you. I mean, from the way he hid all his valuable notes, I’d say that Hojo was as possessive as he was paranoid. I doubt that he’d take well to the discovery that his son was in fact fathered by one of his enemies turned experiment,” Cloud explained with a shrug. This was more suppositions than facts and he was just mentioning it in passing, as he didn’t have any proof. “Anyway, we’d need to do some tests to be sure but we probably couldn't trust the results. Both your bodies have been too heavily modified and experimented on.”
Cloud looked down at the General to get an idea of his reaction and suddenly realized that he was still sitting on the man’s chair. He blushed and wondered why Sephiroth hadn’t told him off, before remembering the other SOLDIER that had come to Nibelheim. He had seemed very friendly; the General was probably used to his casual behavior. Or maybe his fans often took the liberty to intrude into his personal space.
Cloud frowned at himself, wondering if Sephiroth was just ignoring his behavior, like he would for a particularly annoying groupie or if he really didn't mind. The point was moot anyway, because he didn't feel like attracting attention to himself by moving away just now. The discussion was too important to let such petty concerns distract them.
Oblivious to Cloud's wandering thoughts, Sephiroth slowly relaxed back in his chair. He looked thoughtful and Cloud caught him staring pensively at Vincent. For the first time since he had come down to the basement, almost three hours ago, the General didn't look like he would snap at the slightest provocation.
It made Cloud think that maybe, just maybe, things might be all right after all.
Thus, Cloud was totally taken by surprise when he was suddenly and violently sent flying.
He fell against the bookshelf, hard enough that he barely had time to feel the pain before sliding down to the floor and fainting. The last thing he saw was Sephiroth, bent over in his chair, hands gripping his head like claws.
;;;
Cloud woke up to the sound of glass breaking. Startled, he jerked his head up and almost doubled over from the sharp pain that radiated from the back of his head. He stopped moving immediately, breathing slowly, trying to remember what had happened.
It didn’t take him long to put two and two together, especially when he heard Sephiroth’s voice coming from the other side of the room. Apparently, Sephiroth had lost control once again, if the enormous lump that he could feel at the back of his head was any indication.
They had been careless, thinking that it had been an isolated madness once Sephiroth seemed to be back in his right mind. The instant he had relaxed, something had seemed to take over his body, making him attack blindly. Or at least, that’s how Cloud would have described it. Vincent always told him that he had an overactive imagination.
Thankfully, Cloud’s movement didn’t attract the General’s attention. That in itself was enough to send warning bells ringing in Cloud’s mind. He hoped that Vincent had managed to get away from the General, but he couldn’t be sure as he still hadn’t risked opening his eyes. He hadn’t heard Vincent’s voice yet, just Sephiroth’s, shouting and raging. It wasn’t helping him keep his calm or stay optimistic.
There were a few seconds of silence before Cloud heard papers rustling and the sound of heavy files thumping on the floor. He grimaced, thinking back to the long hours he had spent sorting out everything.
Cloud took a shuddering breath while still trying to keep quiet before half-opening an eye.
The room looked as if a tornado had ravaged it. Papers were strewn all over the place and furniture was knocked over.
Sephiroth stood in a corner, one hand holding his head and the other gripping one of the few bookcase still standing as if he was afraid of falling over. He was muttering to himself, low and indistinct. He hadn’t even taken the time to tie up Cloud and Vincent.
Cloud hesitated and stared at him a little longer, trying to decide what he should do while thanking any deity who might be hearing him that the General didn’t look particularly concerned about his perceived enemies’ actions.
The man groaned suddenly, let out a sound that was almost a whine, and dropped to his knees. He didn’t even try to get back up, kneeling on the floor and gripping his head as if he was afraid that it would fall off of his shoulders.
Taking advantage of Sephiroth’s distraction, Cloud slowly looked around the room as much as he could, taking care to move only his eyes and not his body.
There, a pool of red.
A wave of cold sweat broke out all over his body, his heart suddenly trying to jump out of his chest. Cloud almost whimpered in desperation before his brain caught up with his instincts. Several slow, even breaths saved him from hyperventilating like a rookie, even as it gave him some time to realize that the red wasn’t blood but simply Vincent’s damn showy cloak. The young man swallowed the hysterical sob that was working its way out of his throat and shivered in relief.
On the other side of the room, Sephiroth yelled something unintelligible, making Cloud jump in fright.
Cloud brought his attention back to the General, trying to understand what the heck was going on.
Sephiroth was muttering again. Cloud couldn’t hear half of what he was saying, but what he did pick up didn’t particularly make sense.
Sephiroth grabbed papers at random, reading a paragraph here and there, throwing the rest to the side. “Created. I was created using the knowledge of the Cetras!” He half-growled, half-screamed.
Then he jumped back on his feet, banging his head against a shelf and quoting Cloud’s earlier words. “Hojo inseminated Vincent’s ex-girlfriend... Vincent could be my father... No Cetras, only Jenova... But she isn’t a human being, she doesn’t matter, she’s not controlling me...” He repeated, becoming more frantic by the second, as if he were trying to convince himself.
Cloud decided that, sometimes, he would rather be wrong.
;;;
Sephiroth continued arguing with himself for what seemed to be hours.
Afraid that he would be skewered if he made a wrong move, Cloud stayed silent and motionless. His body was growing numb, lying on the cold, damp floor, and his head was throbbing in time with his heartbeat.
Even so, he listened to the man’s one-sided debate, mentally crossing his fingers. He could only hope that Sephiroth would manage to keep his mind on the right track.
The one-sided argument seemed to be running in circles. Sephiroth ranted aloud, beginning a sentence then switching to another subject in the same breath. He stopped talking for long periods at times before suddenly yelling a word or two which didn’t make any sense. Cloud thought that it was a bit like listening to a drowning man; from time to time the General’s old personality surfaced a few seconds but it was steadily being battered down until he didn’t seem to be able to resist anymore.
Cloud stared, sick and horrified, as a part of Sephiroth appeared to be pushing him to lose his calm and to break everything in sight. One moment he was yelling that he was superior to all other life forms, almighty and omnipotent, the next he was muttering about experimentations and scientists, quoting verbatim the descriptions that Cloud had given him earlier about his childhood as a lab rat. The mention that Sephiroth had only made it to ShinRa’s top five because he had been a quiet baby and an obedient pawn for Hojo’s pleasure came up several times during the argument.
Sometimes, Sephiroth just stopped. Stopped moving, stopped talking, stopped breathing.
Those long blank minutes were the worst, because he looked like a living, empty body, or maybe a puppet. Cloud realized that he stopped breathing as well, during those attacks.
Cloud felt powerless and weak, knowing that he was utterly out of his league in this fight and scared out of his mind by this new twist. He could only clutch at the vague thought that, as a military man, Sephiroth should be trained to recognize signs of mental attacks and brainwashing. Maybe it would be enough to keep him from losing it totally.
;;;
It was maybe thirty minutes since Sephiroth had lost his mind, even if it seemed as if it had been hours ago already, but Cloud still couldn’t move. Between the various punches he had taken in the last twenty-four hours, the lack of sleep and his current position on the unforgiving basement floor, his body was sore and tense to the point that he couldn’t open his fist, much less even think about dragging himself behind the relative protection of a nearby armchair.
Of course, the deep seated fear that any movement of his would set off Sephiroth didn’t help him relax at all.
Another glance at the mixed papers that Sephiroth had thrown around convinced him that he had done well to hide Hojo’s more sensitive reports. Through the years, the scientist had become less and less coherent and unbiased. In his last files, the man had been writing of Project J as though it would revolutionize mankind.
Beginning as a simple specimen, Sephiroth had risen to the rank of prototype in Hojo’s mind. Cloud had been horrified when he realized that this madman wasn’t studying Sephiroth’s development anymore, but improving him in the hope of creating a creature as close to being a god as possible.
After a few years, Hojo had even tried to create another ‘Sephiroth’, but neither his own experiments, nor natural sexual reproduction had given him a second puppet. After several failures, Hojo had apparently decided to abandon this line of research. From his comments, Cloud had deduced that the madman had moved to Midgar to try again, but this time by combining Jenova with ShinRa’s grunts. Soon after, the first SOLDIERs had been created.
If Sephiroth had found those monstrous reports, Cloud had little doubt that the man would have broken down completely, without fighting back against whatever was going on inside his head, be it a very real enemy attack or simply his own mental state taking a turn for worse.
That said, Vincent could doubt all he wanted, Cloud was more persuaded than ever that Jenova’s body was still stored up in the reactor. He had no doubt that she was responsible, one way or another, for the General’s current insanity. After all, Sephiroth’s behavior had begun changing right after checking the building.
They had to find a way to destroy the creature, to stop the General from going crazy.
Well, they would have to do it once they found a way to get out of here in one piece. This would be a great time for the other SOLDIER to get here and help them...
Cloud waited a minute in hope, holding his breath, his eyes firmly closed. He probably looked like a child with bowel troubles right now, but he couldn’t care less.
After a moment he opened an eye, focusing on the door, his feeble hope already fading. He rolled his eyes at himself when nothing came. Such coincidences only happened in dreams and to other people. If this were a movie, he would have prayed for Fair to come to the rescue and tada! the SOLDIER would have barged in right that instant.
Of course, something like that would never happen to Cloud.
Annoyed by his own foolishness, Cloud brought his attention back to Sephiroth.
The man’s voice had lost its strength in the last few minutes. Even his body was becoming less and less coordinated and he had let out a few distressing moans.
Worry almost made Cloud go to his aid but he stopped himself at the last moment. If Sephiroth were to attack him now, with Masamune still in hand, he would be skewered before he even got to his knees. The SOLDIER would probably react instinctively, as he was almost too far gone to be aware of what was going on around him.
As Cloud was imagining all the ways in which Sephiroth could kill him – and now he was sure that he did have a concussion –, the General fell to his knees like a stone.
Sephiroth threw back his head and let out a scream, his voice so tortured and full of pain that Cloud felt his eyes water.
Throwing caution to the wind, Cloud pushed himself off the floor, wincing and crying openly in pain, before crossing the room as quickly as he could on all fours. Just as he got close to the SOLDIER, the man collapsed heavily on his side and Cloud barely managed to keep him from banging his head on the stone floor.
Cloud stared down at the unresponsive form, his hand tangled in long, silver locks. He was too shocked to think at first, but soon came back to his senses, his survival instinct kicking him back into movement.
Cloud glance around quickly, taking a second to force his nausea back down at the sudden move, before pushing the General’s sword with a foot, hard enough to make it roll away.
Vincent chose this moment to jump up, apparently none the worse for wear, and he silently slipped the weapon under a bookshelf.
A quiet groan from the General brought Cloud’s attention back to him in a hurry. The man convulsed a couple of times, moaning in pain, before going limp in Cloud’s arms, his eyes staring at the ceiling unblinkingly.
Cloud called out Sephiroth’s name several times, shaking him roughly as panic set in, but Sephiroth didn’t react to any of his efforts. He just lay there, staring at nothing, his pupils so dilated that they almost hid his Mako green irises.
TBC
Sorry for the long wait (and for the cliffhanger ^^;;;). Hope you liked this chapter! :)
--> Next Chapter: 07- Keeping Watch
