Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Complete Opposite ❯ Chapter VI ( Chapter 6 )

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

AN: Alas, I got reminded that I had this story up, considering I had forgotten about it. I know most people figured out that it's on FF.Net already, but for thsoe who only read it here on MM.Org, here's another chapter for you since you've stayed with it. (Thanks, Toonsie.) Now, to the faithful, remember to review! And, to note, that if you thought Cloud's dream was creepy in the first chapter, then you'll surely enjoy the reenactment of Judgment Day. (wink)

Warning: Spoilers, AU, language and C/S.

"Cloud?"

Cloud turned his head at the voice, seeing a younger version of himself sitting with his mom in their kitchen, the woman serving him breakfast.

"Yeah?" the younger Cloud said.

"Are you sure you're not going to change your mind?"

Younger Cloud nodded. "I know you're not asking me this because you disapprove. I'll be fine, Mom."

The woman brushed back a lock of grey-tinted blonde hair, smiling a bit. "I know, I'm sorry Cloud, but it's hard for me to really believe that in just a week you're leaving."

Younger Cloud looked up and smiled back at his mother. "Don't worry, Mom, I'll make it okay."

Cloud frowned. How wrong he was when he thought that everything would be okay once he joined Shinra. He was pushed to his limits, and the Academy was far stricter that his home's schooling. He struggled just to get a job as a guard. It was a miracle when he was given a chance for promotion by accompanying Sephiroth on a mission to his hometown, though he DID have a sneaking suspicion that they only wanted him as a backup in case their tour guide was no good.

Tour guide... Tifa...

Cloud's surroundings changed to the front of Nibelheim, standing near the gate as he watched a younger Tifa sitting just across from him. She looked up after a while, turning her head to see a truck approach. Her eyes were wide as she anticipated the arrival of a certain person, watching a small group of SOLDIERs fell out of the truck, Sephiroth last and standing out in his black ensemble. Tifa frowned and stood up quickly, shaking her head slightly as she turned around and quickly headed back to her house, closing her front door just a little to roughly. Apparently, the person she was looking for wasn't there.

'No... I was there. I was just...' Cloud whispered to himself.

He was distracted when Sephiroth neared the gate of his home, himself, Zack and another SOLDIER following. The rest of their troop stayed back near the truck. He listened as Sephiroth explained to his younger image how his mother was JENOVA. Zack grinned and stretched, looking around the small town as he briefly told of his own folks. After a short laugh from the three, they entered the town, Sephiroth immediately going in the inn to check out a few rooms for them. At the last moment, he told Cloud that he was allowed to visit his family and friends, the younger Cloud nodding as the man disappeared inside.

Cloud walked up to the images of himself and Zack, the black-haired man grinning and saying a few words to the younger Cloud before exiting the town again. Younger Cloud stared after the man with a blank expression, waiting a moment before turning away, crossing the street. But as he neared his house, he paused, staring at the window. His eyes traveled to the house next-door and frowned, shaking his head as he quickly passed them, heading for the mansion that was secluded. Cloud didn't miss how disoriented his younger self's eyes looked, not a sign of happiness or anything he felt when he actually visited Nibelheim.

'I was happy to come back... I went home and talking with my Mom... Why is none of this happening?'

The scene changed to Sephiroth and Zack standing in front of the mansion, Younger Cloud slowly making his way toward them, helmet in place. But even so, Cloud could sense the difference in him. The boy was distant and strangely silent as the three waited for Tifa to arrive. A cameraman ran toward them and asked for a picture, about to ask the younger Cloud to stand in the picture as well when he heard the low growl escaping the helmet, changing his mind in asking Zack instead. They took the picture and the five of them left, Younger Cloud hanging back with the other SOLDIER that was accompanying them just as a precaution.

As they left the town and walked along the path that would lead into the mountains, Cloud's surroundings changing to the top of the mountain where the reactor was, Zack and Younger Cloud following Sephiroth into the reactor while their fourth party member stayed back to keep Tifa out. As Cloud followed the three, he watched as Zack helped Sephiroth fix the problem with the reactor, Younger Cloud walking up the stairs and glancing at each of the pods. Younger Cloud stopped when Zack cried out and fell back after looking inside one of the pods. Sephiroth beckoned the young blonde over and he pushed himself up to see what the other two had. Cloud walked up the steps to see from the side as his younger image's eyes widened considerably, breath hitched. The boy fell back and quickly looked away, hiding his expression from the older men. The other two were too shocked themselves to really notice the strangeness of the boy's reaction. But Cloud saw. He saw himself shaking terribly, eyes glancing all around him, jerking as one of the pods high up broke and revealed a sickening creature that he knew was originally human.

Cloud winced as he saw this, anger and sadness mixing in him. He glanced at Zack as he made a side comment, turning his attention to Younger Cloud as the boy started to act strangely, almost identically to Sephiroth. But there was something more in the boy's disoriented eyes. It was the same as before when he headed for the mansion.

Cloud watched through narrowed eyes as Cloud screamed and brandished his sword before running out, shoving the guard and Tifa to the side, following the path back to town.

Younger Cloud ran straight to the mansion, Cloud noted as the scene changed again, switching quickly to night as his mother come out of her house and stare worriedly toward the mansion. She approached the inn and spoke briefly to the guard outside the inn before heading back inside, a frown creased on her forehead as he lips were pursed together in a narrow line.

'She never got upset... Not like this...'

There was silence in the night's air before everything erupted into flames, so large and destructive Cloud swore he could nearly feel it against his skin. He watched ahead as Younger Cloud drew his sword and shamelessly killed a pair of men who were trying to stop and reason with him. But the boy's eyes were blank, glowing strangely with the flames that surrounded him. Zack ran out of his house, horror etched on his face as he met with Sephiroth, the man staring the blonde down.

The blonde turned away and was engulfed in the flames, disappearing along with Cloud's surroundings, changing to JENOVA's chamber. Sephiroth's and Cloud's swords were drawn, the tip of the Masamune pointing dangerously at the younger male's throat. Sephiroth was ready to kill.

And much to Cloud's horror, his younger image smirked mockingly at the man in response and seemed to call him forth. Sephiroth didn't back down, drawing his sword and yelling at the blonde perched in front of JENOVA's chamber. Cloud flinched at the words spat at his younger self, lowering his gaze. He kept it down as the two battled, only looking up in time to see Sephiroth stab Younger Cloud in the chest like he did in his dream, face set in a deep frown as something passed through his green eyes. Cloud was unable to decipher what it was as the scene changed again, turning to the Shinra building, Sephiroth and Zack following the bloody trail leading to the President's office.

Cloud followed the two, coming to a halt behind them as they came upon the murder scene of the President, the man's body sitting normally in his chair, everything seemingly normal if not for the large blade protruding from his upper body, blood spilling from the wound and to the floor, some of it used to paint the words "This is MY Planet" on the man's desk. It was childish, in a way, but then the younger Cloud Strife that was disoriented and insane did it.

Cloud could only stare at the blood words as they were burned in his mind, barely aware that his surroundings changed once more to the Temple of the Ancients, the younger Cloud laughing behind his hand as his audience either gaped, growled, or stared at him indifferently. The blonde tilted his head to the side, his sword held limply at his side as the smile that crossed his features made him look disturbingly like a little boy that was at a carnival of was given a new toy.

"You won't be able to stop me," were the blonde's simple words before the surroundings changed once again, turning to the crystalline city below a lake.

Cloud's eyes were slightly wider than normal as he watched himself fall from above, sword brought forth before him, tip pointing south, aimed at the woman's body. Cloud sighed a bit as he saw Zack rush forward and knock into the brunette that was about to slaughtered, saving her in time to keep her away from immediate harm. However, though Zack saved Aeris, the woman had a large gash on her side, blood seeping out and staining her pink dress. Younger Cloud made no move to finish them off, simply staring down at them in slight annoyance. Cloud watched as Sephiroth growled at the boy, something in his voice catching Cloud's attention, but the young blonde only laughed and rose slowing in the air, flicking his sword and spraying the Cetra's blood on the man before disappearing, whispering something that Cloud couldn't catch from his position.

He watched Sephiroth and the other AVALANCHE members defeat one of JENOVA's forms, Zack staying back to care for the Cetra.

'Even here Sephiroth's power is great...' Cloud muttered, noting how the silver-haired Ex-General did a majority of the work.

His eyes wandered to Zack and the back of his eyes stung. Zack removed his shirt to clot some of the blood that spilled from Aeris' side, the woman's skin deathly pale, head resting on the man's shoulder, eyes closed with her hair free of its braid. Apparently, though she was not killed, Holy still fell to the waters below. Zack's face was tear-stained, the expression on his face brining surprise to Cloud's. In the time he had known the taller man, he had never witnessed him cry. In fact, he had never seen the man sad, always smiling in the toughest situations. The jovial man just didn't do melancholy; it wasn't part of his nature.

Cloud looked away, urging the scene to change and move on with the story. And as if by his wish, his surroundings shifted to display the Northern Crater, otherwise known as the Wound of the Planet. Red ran forward to meet Sephiroth whose gaze was glued to the hanging cocoon made solely from materia, the shadow of a figure inside all that could be seen. Tifa was farther ahead than the two, in the middle of a glaring contest with an older, uptight blonde woman in a red dress. Rufus Shinra, Hojo of Shinra's Science Department, and several others from Shinra Inc. were present as well. Red handed over a small black stone that pulsed as soon as Sephiroth touched it, holding the stone that fit perfectly in his palm, approaching the structure overhead. He looked up and spoke to all of them, Hojo cackling at the accomplishment of the Journey.

As his feet were lifted off the ground, Sephiroth turned to Tifa and Red, looking past them a moment to see Zack run up, skidding to a stop. With a sad smile, he said softly, "I'm sorry..."

The man transferred the black stone to the folded hands inside the materia cocoon. He looked up in time to see blue eyes open slowly, hands grasping the object given to him. Hair like gold flowed over slender, bare shoulders, navy pants slipped over small hips, legs drawn loosely to a bare chest, bare feet crossing over each other; the Cloud inside this structure looked like a happy little boy, innocent and devious at the same time.

A tremor shook the Crater, seeming to travel through the entire Planet. All present in the Crater scattered, teaming up temporarily to save their lives. Sephiroth, unable to escape by his own will, simply continued to levitate in the air, wind picking up from nowhere and rushing at him as he stared at the boy encased before him.

Cloud below looked up to see Sephiroth unfazed by the crumble of the Crater, reaching out to the structure, a weird look in his eyes. But before he could actually touch the cool, smooth surface, all support above fell, Cloud shutting his eyes as he anticipated the blow. But nothing came. Opening his eyes, he saw his surroundings different yet again, presenting Rufus watching a large screen in his office, Reeves standing behind him some feet away. On the monitor was the image of Younger Cloud sitting somewhere atop a snowy, mountain terrain, laughing gleefully as one of Mother Gaea's WEAPONs surfaced from the waters by the Northern Continent, heading straight for Midgar and all population surrounding it.

Cloud caught both men's grave expressions as they stared, finding himself unable to tear his gaze away from the horror displayed on the monitor. It was only when his surroundings were skewed again did he blink, looking around him. JENOVA's true form hovered just a few feet away from him, Sephiroth, Vincent and Red in defensive stances, awaiting for the feminine monstrosity to attack first.

'Judgment Day...'

Cloud remembered distinctively what happened here, the events following hereafter printed in his mind. He held no reaction as the three males killed JENOVA, the "woman" screeching before falling below into the depths of the Crater. Sephiroth, Vincent and Red were lifted from the platform on which they fought, the platform crumbling under them, sending them down below to where Younger Cloud waited. Cloud followed, face masked with indifference as the words sent back and forth from AVALANCHE members to Younger Cloud reached his ears yet did not register fully in his head. Instead, he was imagining himself in Sephiroth's position here, suppressing his anger as he faced his enemy, hoping and wishing to end this sickening game.

'Game...' Cloud whispered as AVALANCHE was pulled into a warp that sent them to an in-between dimension where they fought one of Younger Cloud's forms, the figure all too familiar to Cloud. 'This was as just a game, wasn't it? ...Sephiroth wanted to be a god, and Cloud wanted to have the world all to himself... It was all just a game...'

Cloud growled at the thought, his eyes trained on the past image of Sephiroth, watching him succeed in killing Younger Cloud's pre-form to what would most likely be called the One Winged Angel, the megalomaniac's final form just waiting for them, unnatural and undoubtedly powerful abilities ready to be tested on them.

Cloud kept his eyes open only long enough to see what he had become. ...No, what the Cloud Strife of this world had become. Blonde hair that was normally barely reaching at chin length had grown to be past his shoulders, legs encased in loose pants, feet bare. One pure white wing protruded from his back, a transparent one identical and flapping in rhythm with the real one, his entire image true to his name. Cloud narrowed his eyes, spotting something around his younger image's wrist before everything blackened, his body hurtling southward to where he knew and saw Sephiroth land a single and final blow on Younger Cloud's body, piercing and destroying it. Cloud squeezed his eyes shut, clutching the fabric at his chest as he felt the ghost touch of the man's blade cut through him.

He didn't want to see this. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to be here.

'Stop it... Stop it please...'

Bugenhagen frowned. Only he was able to see what Cloud saw through a small screen on his machine. The reactions he had predicted were not what he was given. In fact, the man's reaction to it all was completely different. What more, the words Cloud whispered to himself in visual, as well as mutter aloud, had caught him off guard. It seemed to him that the Cloud Strife that he and everyone else had come to know was far different than they thought. A thought crossed the elderly man's mind, but chose not to voice it aloud partially from fear of the reaction of the men that waited with him, and partially from wanting to look further into this theory.

"Stop it... Stop it please..."

At the plea in the blonde's voice, Bugenhagen immediately shut off his machine, turning and waiting silently as the blonde took of the head device with shaky hands. He slowly sat up and stared into nothing, dropping the head device to the floor.

"Cloud?"

At the sound of his name, the blonde jerked, eyes slowly moving to meet Bugenhagen's gaze.

"Are you all right?"

It was a general question, something given out of habit when someone looked disheveled and as lost as the man before him.

Cloud nodded minutely, eyes full of emotion. He averted his gaze, blinking once as he bowed his head. A million questions were going through his head.

"Cloud, what you saw was the truth that we have be told and experienced."

"I know..." was the small answer, almost too soft to hear. "But it's wrong..."

"Wrong?" Sephiroth repeated, unable to hold himself back.

"Wrong... Yes, wrong... I wasn't the one who did all that. I wasn't the boy who thought of the world as a toy. I wasn't the one who wanted to be a god. That wasn't me..."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed slightly, feeling the urge to approach the man and just hit him, but refrained himself from doing so. He watched as Bugenhagen approached the blonde and lay a gentle hand on his shoulder, the blonde jerking away from the simple touch.

"If not you, then who?"

"Sephiroth..." was Cloud's answer. "Sephiroth wanted to become the god, wanted to rule to world, wanted to fulfill JENOVA's wishes. It was all him... He became the One Winged Angel, caused the Mother's cry of sadness and pain, created such destruction over the Planet. Not me..."

Bugenhagen retreated his hand and turned to the two men who stared intently at Cloud, brows furrowed and carrying similar expressions of deep thought. He lifted his own brows in question.

But before either of them could answer, the blonde took the first action, standing up slowly and turning a strangely blank gaze to the elderly man, speaking softly.

"Bugenhagen, I want to leave. Let me down."

Bugenhagen looked at Sephiroth who frowned at Cloud before nodding.

"Don't worry, Bugenhagen, we'll watch over him."

Bugenhagen nodded in return, gesturing for the man to follow him back to the elevator, taking them back to the ground. Sephiroth thanked the man and left with Cloud behind him, Vincent behind both of them. The man took Cloud to the inn and with a little persuasion, got Cloud a room, Vincent stationed outside the door to keep an eye and ear out for anything unusual.

AN: Yet another chapter done! It's sorta a filler chapter as well, but it got you a big view of what this AU Gaea was like. As you can see, something's just strange with Sephiroth and Bugenhagen's got his mental gears going. No one's sure about this blonde and there's a good reason for it too.

Well, please remember to send feedback about this chapter and know that another will be waiting for you by the time you come back (kinda, sorta). Cheers!