Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Complete Opposite ❯ Chapter I ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: This is my first FFVII (FF alone) fan story and I hope you all like it. Criticism is much welcome and any note (general or not) on my grammar is fine as well. I’m a horrible procrastinator and am known for taking on too many projects at once, so don’t depend on me updating like any normal person. For all we know, I could be updating once a week with one chapter each week, or maybe I’ll do three chapters in one day after a month of vacation. Who knows? Either way, please be sure to keep up with this story because you never know what else I’ll do or when. ^^;;

Disclaimer: All works of the FF series belongs to the wondrous and fabulous and down-right damn-cool director Tetsuya Nomura of Squaresoft®. I do not own anything.

Warning: Other than language and blood, there are spoilers from the game, so beware. Also, there’s the fact that this story’s AU and C/S (even though it’s not so obvious right now... it’s more hatred than anything at this point), but that’s it.


Cloud dully wiped the blood off his sword, looking around. It had taken him such a long time to actually get here without the help from his AVALANCHE comrades, the journey wearing out his legs. With a sigh, he sat down for a moment, resting his legs. He must’ve been walking for two or three weeks, then riding on a chocobo for a day or two until he had to start walking again, only once having to use a boat to cross the waters. He never really gave himself time to rest until now. It was a ritual, really, to do this every three months. It was the least he could do after letting her die.

Cloud shook his head, brushing a bang out of his vision. Looking around, he spotted the small village surrounded by a forest. He smiled a bit, remembering walking through that forest not but a year or two ago. Of course, it wasn’t on best intentions, but the forest still had a presence that soothed him, especially now, after Judgment Day, visiting the hidden and sacred City beyond. The harp he had used to waken the forest laid near the bottom of his travel pack that was slung over his shoulder. He didn’t need it, really, but he kept it as a reminder. Of what, he couldn’t really tell, but he liked having it around.

Barret Wallace, former leader of the AVALANCHE group before Cloud came along, had poked fun at him for keeping the instrument, but stopped when Cloud countered with how the man kept a flower with him, dried and pressed and sealed between two sheets of plastic. Originally, the flower was Cloud’s, given to Marlene, Barret’s adopted daughter, during her earlier days with AVALNCHE. Why the man kept the flower still was beyond him, but Cloud didn’t say anything about it, knowing better than to fire the large man’s anger.

The blonde Ex-SOLDIER stood up and brushed off the dirt from his backside, hefting his sword over his shoulder and securing it in the straps created for it. Wiping his hands on his pants, he started for the village, nodding to man at the entrance as he reached the vicinity.

“Time again, Cloud?”

“Yeah,” Cloud answered to the woman he passed by who was eyeing her finds.

“Give my respects.”

Cloud nodded and continued to the other side of the small village to forest, walking in silence. He never spoke once he entered the forest, finding as a sacred place to clear his thoughts and ease his troubled soul. Ever since the final battle- No, ever since her death, he never found peace, heart saddened, mind alert and on the edge, soul broken into a million pieces. And even though he killed Sephiroth and Jenova, it still didn’t amount to the damage they had done. He may have eased Gaea’s pain, but she still bared a scar, an eternal reminder of what had happened to her. And, of course, there was him as another reminder. All the citizens of Gaea would always remember Cloud and the other members of the AVALNCHE team (dead and alive).

Cloud looked skyward. Gaea, what will you do with me now?

Unnatural blue eyes narrowed slightly, body still as if waiting for an answer. But of course, Gaea never spoke directly to her people. If anything, he should’ve been looking at the ground for an answer, not the sky. Gaea was under his feet, in the air, surrounding him. But still, as if through habit, he looked skyward for answers, as if Gaea would descend upon him and greet him with outstretched arms, whispering her knowledge, her plans, her wishes in his ear.

Cloud shook his head and dismissed his thoughts, continuing on through the forest until it became sparse, opening up a valley that looked like a dried up river, water-based plants decorating the empty land. Hopping across stones and carefully walking across a log, he made it to the edge of the valley, almost immediately meeting with a snake-like path that sloped and weaved around giant lily-looking plants that flanked the path, leading to the City. He walked the length of the path, taking a detour to rest a bit in one of the house-like buildings, a bed convenient for him by a window.

On the bed was a single sheet that never seemed to soil or become dirty, no matter how many times he’d stayed there, never bothering to clean up after himself aside from rearranging the sheets. Here, he laid back, sprawled carelessly, dropping his bag near the head of the bed and resting his sword against the wall, closing his eyes and finally taking a good sleep.

‘Sir...?’

Cloud lifted his head, brows slightly knitted.

‘Sir...? You, uh, dropped this.’

Cloud looked down to see a small girl hold up a circular object in her hand. Extending his hand, he took the item. She dropped the item in his hand and he stared at it. Lifting it to eye level, Cloud’s eyes widened.

It was the Holy materia.

Cloud looked up to ask the girl where she had found the item only to find her gone. He frowned, looking around the black abyss to find the girl; and more over, find out where he was.

‘Cloud?’

Cloud whipped around to face a younger version of Tifa, his childhood friend and AVALANCHE comrade.

‘Cloud... You promised.’

Promised? Promised what?

‘You promised you would come to my rescue.’

Cloud blinked and found himself alone again. He turned around and found himself in his hometown, standing at the gate, facing the well in the center. Cloud couldn’t help but keep frowning, slowly stepping in the town and looking about. Strangely, yet not entirely so, no one was outside; no children where playing with balls, no dogs or cats were slinking across the street, nor were any adults in sight. It was empty.

Cloud looked to his left to see the town inn, but couldn’t see inside the window. He turned to his house and entered it, slowly pushing open the door. He smelled the aroma of baking bread in the oven and was drawn to it, walking down the hall to the kitchen where he found a blonde woman with a white apron over her simple red dress. He nearly gasped as he recognized the woman.

Suddenly, the woman turned around and smiled kindly, tucking back a stray lock of grey-tinted blonde hair. ‘Cloud? I’m glad you’re back. How are you?’

Cloud froze at her voice; the same voice that sung him to sleep and encouraged him to do his best and murmured soothing words in his ear when he cried and was scared. Almost immediately, he relaxed, welcoming the sight of this woman.

‘You must be tired. Come on, you still have you room, so go up and wash and come back here when you’re done. We’ll talk about your trip once you’re done.’

Cloud could only nod and turned around, meeting a different scenery. Light barely came through the dark room, the large paned windows emitting not nearly enough light for him to go by. He turned around again to see his house gone, replaced with the front door to the house: Shinra Mansion.

Cloud blinked and turned back to face the house. He didn’t understand what was going on, but let his feet take him up a flight of stairs and to the right wing, continuing on to the room that held a secret passageway to the library underground. He walked down the spiral of steps to the bottom of the basement, following the path to the library, passing the coffin area where he had once found another member of the AVALANCHE team: Vincent Valentine, biological father of Sephiroth.

He entered the library and in his ears echoed the sound of near-insane laughter. He winced as he recognized whom it came from. Following the sound, he found a silver-haired man with a hand over his middle, as if trying to hold in his laughter. A thick book was propped up in front of him, several more scattered around his chair as desk, only enough space for him to walk through and pace. Cloud swallowed slightly as his eyes were glued to the silver-haired man.

The laughter subsided and glowing, mako-enhanced eyes turned to him. ‘Ah, Cloud...’

Cloud frowned, eyes slightly narrowed with his hands clenched at his side, restraining himself from attacking the man.

‘Mother... She- No, you wouldn’t understand. You’re nothing but a traitor, after all.’

Sephiroth laughed suddenly, waving a hand dismissingly toward Cloud. ‘Never mind. So, do you enjoy living, Cloud?’

Cloud was taken back by the question, his anger and negative feeling gone, replaced with confusion.

‘Yes? ...Well, that’s not a surprise. You’ve lived through a lot. Even accomplished the impossible.’

What...? What was this man getting at?

‘But you never understood. ...You never were able to appreciate a few things you were given.’

A mocking smirk crossed the man’s lips. ‘Still sulking, aren’t you? Such a child... Something went wrong and now you’re feeling and thinking like the whole world came down. ...Oh, wait, let me reword that. The world almost DID crash! Oh yeah, that’s right, you and your pathetic team of “saviors” defied JENOVA and defiled her plans. Of course...’

Cloud growled involuntarily, anger spurring within him. Just as he was about to open his mouth to snap at the older man, he disappeared, reappearing behind him in a flash. Cloud spun to meet the man, eyes narrowed and mouth set in a frozen snarl. Sephiroth merely smirked. The scenery around them changed, displaying a burning Nibelheim. Cloud was easily distracted by the flames as he noted the dead bodies littering the grounds, several being SOLDIERs. Cloud’s gaze stopped on a familiar face: Zack Knightblade.

Zack...

‘Shame, isn’t it?’

Cloud faced the silver-haired man again, just in time to see him start to circle him, hands behind his back, hair waving at the slight wind.

‘You couldn’t save him, and you were both injected with mako, just like everyone of SOLDIER. And because of it, you lost your memories and thought you were Zack just because the man was your friend and helped you escape from poisoning and death. But in turn, he died. Such a shame, really. Don’t you feel guilty?’

Cloud’s hands formed fists and shook at his sides, his mind screaming to pick up his sword and slay the man.

‘Angry? Why? It was your fault, after all.’

Sephiroth laughed and stepped back a few feet. He eyed the blonde with slight interest, awaiting a reaction.

‘Cloud, Cloud, Cloud... Such a child... You don’t know anything at all... Taking your first steps, saying your first words... You don’t know any better.’

In a flash, the man disappeared. Cloud tensed at this, eyes searching for the man. When he felt a pair of gloved hands fall over his shoulders, he froze.

‘Cloud...’

He was jerked around, hands disappearing from his shoulders almost immediately, facing JENOVA. Cloud’s anger grew and he had no problem in releasing his sword and drawing it across the feminine monstrosity. He let loose his Limit Break: Omnislash, cutting the creature with what was probably more than a hundred times. He forced himself into the air, letting gravity bring him down, sword pointed down upon creature.

As the blade struck, JENOVA only growled and seemed to evaporate, in her place being a familiar pink-clad girl. Cloud’s eyes grew wide, hands shaking in realization. Calm, gentle green eyes met his, a smile upon the lips of the girl’s heart-shaped face. Cloud withdrew his blade, dropping it and catching the girl. Her hands were clasped under her chin in prayer. He supported her head with one of his hands, her braid coming loose at his touch. From beneath the pink ribbon that held the girl’s hair in place dropped a small white sphere. Cloud stared at the object, tears forming behind his eyes.

‘Cloud...’

The blonde only hugged the girl close, squeezing his eyes tightly. He apologized to the brunette over and over in his mind, refusing to let his tears fall.

‘Cloud...’

Cloud hesitantly released the girl, pulling back. He kept his eyes closed as gloved hand caressed his cheek, using their thumb to wipe away a tear that escaped. Cloud only shook his head, never letting go. Two hands came up to his face, stroking his cheeks as he let the tears fall.

‘Cloud...’

The hands traveled down his face and rested on both sides of his neck. Cloud slowly opened his eyes, blinking several times to rid of his tears. As his vision started to clear, the hands around his neck tightened, making him gasp for breath. Eyes snapping fully open, Cloud saw that the girl he was supposed to be holding turned out to be a grinning silver-haired man. Cloud dropped his hold on the man, but instead of him falling, Sephiroth forced Cloud back, ramming him against the floor of a building.

Cloud barely glanced around him to see himself in the Shinra building, on the floor of the President’s office. The grip around his neck tightened, directing his attention back to the man who hovered over him, pinning him to the hard floor. Cloud’s weapon was visible a few meters away, too far for him to reach.

‘Cloud...’

Cloud gasped once again, bringing his hands over the wrists of his offender. He struggled with the man, fighting to have him release his grip. But it was as if Sephiroth’s grip would only tighten, his hands immovable from his neck. Cloud tried to claw at the man, but his lack of air weakened his position. His vision blurred horribly, silver and piercing green the last he saw as the grip around his neck tightened once more.

“Aaah~!”

Cloud sat up quickly, as if he was burning, his breath coming out in pants while his eyes were watered with tears. He was shaking, his hands clenched around the sheet that was supposed to be beneath him in his sleep. Instead, it was crumpled and part of it was entangled in his legs. Apparently, his dream caused his restlessness. Sweat dripped down the side of his face, most of the droplets formed from his forehead. His brows were knitted, but his eyes were wide and alert, his entire body ready to react if something so much as moved.

It took several long minutes to cool the blonde’s racing heart, his breath coming easier and more normally. He gripped at his shirt, willing himself to calm down. He looked around wildly, hoping that this wasn’t part of the dream. His sword was resting against the wall as he left it, his bag still by the bed. The only difference was the rumpled sheets and his disheveled appearance.

Heaving a big sigh, Cloud straightened himself and gathered his things, continuing on to deeper into the City. He entered the main structure, walking the path of water-like plants until he came to a lake in the center, a smaller structure behind it. He stopped by the lake and knelt, a small prayer he had learned from his childhood said in no louder than a whisper. When he stood up, he made his way over to the small structure that looked strangely like a giant shell. He entered the shell and walked up the spiral steps, stopping as he came to the gate that led to the crystalline city where Aeris was slain. He took a deep breath and was sure to compose himself before descending down the steps.

AN: I hope you liked what I’ve done. I know that some of this may confusing (it was a struggle to get this darn dream out, I tell ya), but I’m sure it’ll all be all right. Might I remind you, this story is AU, so don’t be surprised with what’s to come.

Please send me feedback because I greatly enjoy it. Till next time!

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