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c0smoshit · 6 months

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Do you want me or do you not?

⋆ ࣪. ℙ𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 ≫ Cloud Strife/Reader

⋆ ࣪. ℙ𝕝𝕠𝕥 ≫ Cloud saw a letter with his name written on it, inside your diary

⋆ ࣪. 𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 ≫ angst!, reader not being present, guilt, not proofread!!

⋆ ࣪. 𝔸/ℕ ≫ I'm back again!! I don't like this drabble really much but I've spent sm time writing it that I thought I'd post it lol. Sorry if it's a bit shitty 🤧

⋆ ࣪. 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥 ≫ 1718

"Do you want me or do you not?"

His hands held the once hated paper as if it was worth millions of gils.

Cold fairies travelled up his spine, reminding him of the future he will never have with you.

A part of him was still attached to the past, a great part. That was his way to cope with everything that had happened in his life, swimming in a deep, deep pool of sorrow and unreached dreams.

Maybe he shouldn't have taken that path a long time ago.

Maybe he shouldn't have fallen deeply from your silk hands, following people he knew didn't speak to him like you did.

Or maybe his destiny was to end up like this, alone again.

His steps were curiously more careful, his inner voice telling him ( shouting at him ) that he should've been more careful.

But who could really blame him?

. . .

"Hey there"

Sometimes you would greet him with a smile, which he didn't return. Or some whispered out "hi", but this wasn't your usual greeting.

Your arms enveloped him for an instant, your cheek against his chest as you pressed further into him.

He could smell you and he liked it, he always liked clean ambiences. Something weird as he constantly had to smell Midgar's dirty air, but he didn't mind smelling sweet, fruity shampoos.

You parted from him as his hands stayed still against his sides, afraid of moving them too much.

As soon as he sat on a stool in the bar, you had a drink already waiting for him.

And he hated it.

He knew that he was being such a dick, but his mind couldn't help but feel somewhat uncomfortable by your warm and so pleasant touches.

He wanted to be happy just for once, god you were giving him his favourite drink!

But weighs and weighs of stress and unsolved problems occupied more volume than his own welfare.

"Do you not like it?"

His gaze then looked at your confused eyes.

"I'm sorry I thought you did, I can always ch-"

"It's alright"

That's it?

You got nothing more to say than that?

His eyes looked at your ... he wasn't going to lie, he really did not know how to read the emotions you had hiding between those gorgerous orbs.

And he wished he did

So as your hands quickly retrieved themselves from changing the liquid, you were back to the chores Tifa probably told you to please do.

He wanted to go, not because you were there but because he was suddenly so nervous he needed "fresh" air.

So that's what he did, not before muttering a low "thanks" and wishing you a good night before stepping outside the bar once again.

He surely didn't want to go home, he didn't want the sun to come up, but on top of all of those wishes, he didn't know what he wanted to truly do.

So his feet, followed by a loud metallic "clank!" that quieted down the louder rumble of the city, dragged him through alleys.

His eyes looked everywhere, dimly lighted appartaments, people that were still returning home from work.

Would they visit their kids?

Their cats? Dogs?

Their partnerts?

He wouldn't wish anyone to be him.

And he ceirtanly day-dreamed about becoming some stranger on the streets.

He often recieved comments from some boys about how handsome he was, that he surely had a long pile of women on his palm.

But was it really worth it?

He didn't need women to love him, he didn't need nobody to love him.

Nobody but someone to hold at night, someone to lull him back to sleep after a rough night.

( he needed you )

. . .

And yet he was here, waiting for you to walk back into your room as he stared into the blank wall.

He remembers the day he moved in next door to you in Midgar, both of your rooms were so different you made him self-concious about his own decisions of decoration.

The way you would lit up the darkness of his empty room the moment you placed your feet inside of it.

But now they all remained just as memories

Memories that soon would dissapear into the void of his enigmatic mind.

He knew there was going to be a time that his brain, naturally, would forget how your face looked like.

How your voice sounded like.

The warmth of your shy touches against his skin.

And he didn't want that time to come, not ever.

But he was far, far away from where it all had started. The nostalgia of your steps as you guided him through Midgar, Nibelheim ( although he knew it like the back of his hand ) Gold saucer. . .

And finally, your room

Which was the place he was standing on right now, trying to read a note you wrote who knows when.

He knows he shouldn't be doing this, rumaging through your personal belongings. But once he had opened your diary and saw his name written on it, he had to take a look.

. . .

" He feels like a ray of sun after a storm, warm and welcoming you back to the sweet and beautiful world you once knew "

" Today I walked with him all through sector 5, he was so cute waiting for me while I asked him which clothes he liked most "

" I don't want to lose him ever again, not after what happened today "

" Maybe he likes Aerith, I see the way his eyes linger on her smile for quite a while "

" Maybe I'm being annoying but I don't get why he doesn't want me to take him home! We live right next to eachother >:( "

" Yesterday I laughed a lot when Tifa called him an angry chocobo, he sure looks like one of those big birds "

" I wonder what he thinks of me. .

. . .

And then he saw it, a ruffled up small paper smashed against the last two pages of the little book. But when he grabbed it, he wished he didn't.

At first he found it quite hard to read as he got used to how you would normally write, but it was clear that you were upset in this one.

There were also some harsh drawn lines on top of your words, a mess of your thoughts and anger. All of the slurred out words came to the same conclusion.

Did he want you or did he not?!?

It is all so confusing, first he speaks to me kindly, he even cracks a few jokes! But then he comes back to this... cold and closed personality. Maybe I'm being dumb about this, maybe he just sees me as a friend just like he would with Barret or Tifa. Well, Tifa... Why am I being jealous of her? I don't want to feel like this, she has all the rights to be close to him. Hell, she was her bestfriend ever since they were little kids. But then again, why does he speak to me like he isn't interested in me??

Why does he talk to me like that if so?

He turned his eyes out of those last words, now understanding why you acted like that whenever he was around you.

Why you were gone now.

The first feeling that flooded his entire organism was guilt, that familiar clench inside his lower stomach. Then he went over 10 different ways he could have had you with him right now.

And they all ended up talking

Just that simple, right?

But the way his mind would automatically go blank whenever you spoke to him about something serious, the innability to express his real feelings without letting out lies instead.

And to add up to how deeply dumb he felt, it was a surprise for him to have just discovered that you actually felt the same for him ever since.

. . .

Going inside a cave wasn't really a good idea thanks to all the cons it has, confusing as a maze, bad lighting and of course, how cold they usually are.

So he wasn't really surprised that after the group had divided itself, you all ended up kind of lost. Next to Barret, he tried to stay calm as he tried to search Tifa, Red and, of course, you.

"Where the hell are we?"

Barret's loud voice echoed through the hard walls, making Cloud flinch as he tried to guide themselves into the exit.

After walking for quite a while, he found a strange section inside the cave that was way colder than the other ones. And when he was about to step into the other section next to it, he heard you.

But he didn't hear the chatting he had thought he would have listened, instead he heard a loud gasp, followed by some shoes ruffling.

And by the time his eyes were searching for you, he looked up to see you almost crushing him down into the ground. But of course, he was fast enough to catch you.

A blur of voices surrounded his mind, but the only thing that it was paying attetion to was the way your cool body fit in between his arms.

Your arms curled up against his chest as your mouth moved, probably surprised to had fallen into his arms instead of hard rocks.

. . .

He never will forget how you felt on his arms.

Reminiscing about past events had became his usual routine whenever he thought about you, he couldn't do anything more either way.

But it was pointless now, no matter how hard he tried to imagine yourself again, you weren't there.

And it was now when he finally had figured out why his words seemed not to seep out of his mouth as smoothly as usual with you.

Right after the group had started to live normal lifes again after the meteor, you were gone, far away from his reach. Or maybe you were right beside him, who knows.

He often wondered if you still dreamt about what happened in Midgar, Nibelheim, Junon...

He needed to find you.

But where shall he start?

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myvampyrez · 30 days

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THE ROCK IS BACK‼️‼️‼️ And has brought you… Cloud Strife x Baker!reader. Imagine teaching him how to bake and he’s just standing there like “huh?” After you just reread him the instructions for the millionth time, which results in him being covered in flour.

-🪨

“then you just mix them in like,” you paused as you whisked the thick batter around, cloud noted how your tongue poked out in concentration, “this!”

cloud’s eyebrows furrowed, mako infused eyes flickering between the mixing bowl and you as he cocked his head. you simply grinned at him, hand still mixing the thick cake batter. your hand looked comically small against the big silver bowl.

you had decided to bust out one of your old recipes, chocolate cake with some raspberry mousse on top. simple but definitely one of your favorites. you had offered cloud to try some, even if he wasn’t so much a dessert type person. but then aerith found out. and then tifa. and then biggs. and suddenly—you’re making a lot of chocolate cake. you decided that you underestimated how much help you would need and the duration of time it’d take you to just bake these cakes. so who else to call but your trusty mercenary boyfriend?

“wha—?” with another tilt of his head, cloud watched you curiously as you grabbed his hand, having him hold the whisk while you let out a singsong, “keep it moving!” while you twirled your way to the cupboard and grabbed some cocoa powder along with some various other ingredients.

you giggled as you watched cloud hesitantly stir the mixture, big eyes following you while you walked back up to him and held the ingredients out to him. you beamed at him, “do it just like how i said, ‘kay?”

cloud let out an unsure, “okay.” while you held your hands behind your back and watched as he scooped some cocoa powder out with a tablespoon. mako eyes hesitantly darted between you and the cake batter, unsure if he was doing it right. his worries melted away though—when he saw that your smile never faltered. to be honest, cloud hadn’t been listening to a word you said, only focused on the way your lips moved and how you seemed so sure of what you were talking about.

“i still don’t know what you find fun about this, though. it’s so many..” he trailed off.

“steps?”

“yeah.” was all he said. he watched as you put a hand up, signaling for him to stop as you stepped closer, mixing all the powders and liquids together in one big, chocolate-y mess.

a small silence fell over the two of you as you could feel cloud’s presence behind you, watching each of your movements intently to try and find some sort of meaning behind it. you were doing so many things at once, it was hard to keep track of. a soft smile rested itself on your lips, watching cloud through your peripheral try and lean his head over your shoulder to get a better look.

“have i ever told you how cute i think you are?” you said. your eyes never left the whisk, watching as it created swirls and ripples in the thick chocolate. you heard cloud make a small noise, clearly taken aback as his eyes widened and his posture became stiffer.

“what makes you say that?” he finally asked.

you simply giggled and pointed at the mixture that lay in the bowl below you, “because you put way too much powder in this.” you finally put the whisk down, it making a clank as the metal hit the cool countertop, littered with an assortment of packages containing ingredients.

cloud tipped his head over to get a better look, his face trying its hardest not to redden as he felt your fingertips graze his jaw, softened with the flour that covered them. you were right, he thought, as he saw the clumps of leftover powder that wouldn’t break down. the corners of his mouth quirked downwards as he felt your gaze on him, almost shrinking like a dog that’s been caught red-handed.

“‘s alright, cloud. we can just try again.” you gently guided his gaze towards yours, watching as his eyebrows knitted together once you made eye contact. you rubbed your thumb along his cheekbone, peaceful grin still painted on your face when you looked at him. cloud had wondered how you could be so soft, sometimes. your hand slowly fell, the pad of your thumb making sure to run itself along the entirety of his cheek.

“did you just smear chocolate on my cheek?”

“sshh..” you said, bringing a finger to his lips. you closed your eyes as you took in the moment before you, removing your finger and giving cloud a chance to actually lick his lips and confirm it really was chocolate. it also gave him the chance to grab a pinch of flour from the counter behind you, except instead of a pinch, cloud more so grabbed a handful. and perhaps he dumped it on your head, too.

you gasped, watching as he narrowed his eyes playfully at you. backing away with his hands in a smug surrender motion, before you grabbed a handful and threw it at him, too.

“you’re on!” you shouted, and then began what would soon be referred to as ‘the flour war’.

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cephei-ea · 11 months

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Masterlist

Here is my character list again (because I’m aware that the links are half broken): Character List

Genres:

F= fluff

A= angst

N= nsfw

S= smut

C= comfort

H= hurt

Categories:

ima= imagine

one= oneshot

fic= fic (multiple chapters)

drb= drabble

au= alternate universe

hc= headcannons

_______________

ATTACK ON TITAN

Levi Ackerman

Levi x reader - Reflection (one - a, h)

FAIRYTAIL

Natsu Dragneel

Natsu x Lucy - Golden Scales (drb - h/c, a)

Lucy Heartfilia

Natsu x Lucy - Golden Scales (drb - h/c, a)

FINAL FANTASY VII

Cloud Strife

Cloud x reader - Fluff Alphabet (hc/drb - f)

TALE OF THE NINE TAILED

Lee Rang

Lee Rang x reader - Green Juice (one - a, h/c, f)

MOB PSYCHO 100

Shigeo Kageyama (Mob)

Mob x reader - Disbelief (ima - a)

GENSHIN IMPACT

Diluc Ragnvindr (DNH)

Diluc x reader - Hydro Abyss Mage (ima - a)

Diluc, Scaramouche, Xiao, Ch*lde, Kaeya - Reaction To Your Pregnancy (Individual) (fic/hc - f, a)

Diluc, Ch*lde, Dainsleif - Argument Pt1 (hc/drb - a)

Diluc, Ch*lde, Dainsleif - Argument Pt2 (drb - a, h/c)

Kaeya Alberich

Diluc, Scaramouche, Xiao, Ch*lde, Kaeya - Reaction To Your Pregnancy (Individual) (fic/hc - f, a)

Scaramouche (Balladeer/Wanderer)

Diluc, Scaramouche, Xiao, Ch*lde, Kaeya - Reaction To Your Pregnancy (Individual) (fic/hc - f, a)

Ch*lde (Tartaglia)

Diluc, Scaramouche, Xiao, Ch*lde, Kaeya - Reaction To Your Pregnancy (Individual) (fic/hc - f, a)

Diluc, Ch*lde, Dainsleif - Argument Pt1 (hc/drb - a)

Diluc, Ch*lde, Dainsleif - Argument Pt2 (drb - a, h/c)

Dainsleif

Diluc, Ch*lde, Dainsleif - Argument Pt1 (hc/drb - a)

Diluc, Ch*lde, Dainsleif - Argument Pt2 (drb - a, h/c)

Xiao

Diluc, Scaramouche, Xiao, Ch*lde, Kaeya - Reaction To Your Pregnancy (Individual) (fic/hc - f, a)

UNORDINARY

Arlo (Asslo)

Arlo x reader - Chores (one - a, c)

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matchagator · 7 months

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Inescapable Delusions | Ch. 8 | Explicit 21+

The girls are learning some new tricks for the performance, but after things don't go to plan, they are able to reconnect. Will their reunion be more bitter or more sweet?

*This is an explicit story. Minors do not interact*

{Summary:} Enter the House of Cards for an evening of countless wonders and jaw-dropping spectacles. While you become entranced in the various acts, take caution not to fall victim to the illusions or you may end up facing inescapable delusions.

{Main Pairings:} Animal Tamer Jeon Jungkook/ Original Female Character

{Rating:} 21+ Explicit Caution: Read Warnings

{Genre:} Alternate Universe - Crime Circus

{Warnings:} Circus (no clowns), Smut, Abuse, Gaslighting, Rough Sex, Bondage, Rape/Non-con - Freeform, Angst, BDSM, Blood and Violence, Knifeplay, Crimes & Criminals, Sex Trafficking, Death Threats, Nudity, Stockholm Syndrome, Explicit Language, Manipulation, Possessive Behavior, Praise Kink, Abusive Relationships, Unhealthy Relationships, Secrets, Sexual Slavery, Prostitution, Tigers, Elephants, Animal Attack, Virginity, Bad Decisions, Banter, Manhandling, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Degradation, Coercion, BDSM Elements, Whips, Throat Fucking, Unprotected Sex

A vast gloomy cloud hung over the House of Cards, bringing in a shower of cold rain and strong gusts of wind. The weather dampened the mood as performers huddled under the tents to keep sheltered during their hours of practice. It was a rare opportunity for Sophie to see all the acts simultaneously as the performers were forced to share the same environment. She followed Jungkook out of the rehearsal tent and into the main arena with one of the tigers prowling alongside them.

Her eyes adjusted to the bright lights of the big top and noticed the familiar wheel that Yoongi used for his act. As they walked around the ring, looking for a spot to practice, she got a better view of the wheel and was surprised to see Anna strapped to it. She paused, wishing to dash across the ring and gather her friend in an overdue embrace, but heard Jungkook call her name.

She scurried after him, realizing he picked a spot to practice which had one of the platforms he used for his animals. He gestured for the tiger to hop up on the surface and sit obediently as he encouraged Sophie over. “So, what’s this trick that you wanted to teach me?”

Jungkook scratched the back of the Bengal’s ear, looking at his assistant with that charming smile. “It’s easy really. You just need to give him a kiss.” His hand switched to caress under the strong jaw of the jungle cat as it jutted his chin out in approval.

Sophie blinked, trying to decipher if she heard him correctly. “I’m sorry, you said what?”

Jungkook only chuckled, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a familiar vial. “Don’t worry, this stuff will do most of the work. You just gotta stand there and lean in close.” He shook the small bottle before twisting the top and pulling out the small dropper.

She grew pale as she remembered the oil he placed on her outfit during their first performance, which caused the tigers to chase after her like their next meal. “You want me to stand close to a tiger while smelling like fish?” Her heart drummed in her chest. “Are you out of your mind? There’s no way!” She took a step back, but Jungkook reached out to pull her towards him.

“If you have a problem with it, I’m sure I can make some new arrangements.” He gestured his head just off to the side and Sophie followed his guidance just in time to see Yoongi strike a dagger right next to Anna’s thigh on the wheel. Sophie locked her jaw, grinding her teeth as she remembered his threat to take Anna in as his assistant instead. “I’m sure the clients will love you.” He teased.

She swallowed her fear as her emotions were engulfed with sin. “Fine.” She snatched the vial from his hands, taking the initiative to prove she could handle this obstacle with little strife. “Just tell me what I need to do.” Her determination blindsided her to the mischievous twinkle in his eye as she stepped toward the tiger.

Thunk!

Anna winced as a dagger lodged itself just by her ear, the sound quick and loud against her eardrum. Her limbs were starting to lose circulation from being spread out on the target since the early morning. The human target found that indoor practices were her least favorite considering the cool rain made the chills run over her body where the sun would usually keep her warm. Being outside was one of the fleeting moments that reminded her of what it felt like to be free, but instead, she was forced to be cooped up with the others.

“When can I get down from here?” She asked, adjusting her limbs to the best of her ability as the straps dug into her tender skin.

Yoongi tilted his head, contemplating her question with deep thought. He twirled a dagger between his fingers, running it over his knuckles before holding it in his grasp. “Can you hold an apple?”

Anna slowly curled a brow, watching him as he slowly approached her. “Uh, yeah. Why?”

Yoongi only smirked, reaching up to release her from the straps. “Good.” He unbuckled her wrists first before bending down to unlatch her ankles, allowing her to set one foot on the ground first and then freeing her other.

Anna felt her legs wobble as she stood on solid ground, her body still not accustomed to being placed on a spinning piece of board. Yoongi grabbed her arm, bending it up, and adjusted her hand to open with the palm facing up. “Okay, don’t move.” She watched him walk back to his collection of knives and noticed a shiny, red apple appear from his case.

He returned and placed the bottom of the core onto her palm, making it seem like she was a waitress serving up an apple. “You don’t think you’re actually gonna hit that, do you?” She wondered, worried that he might actually stab into her hand with his throw.

“I will if you stand still.” He snapped, slowly stepping back as he aimed his throw. He tested the swing of his arm, falsely flinging the dagger without letting go, and took large soothing breaths. “Try not to flinch.”

Anna became tense under the glare of his blade, sweat pebbling on her brow as her hand started to shake nervously. She bit her lip, anticipating the throw and the infliction of pain when he sliced into her palm but heard a startling scream instead.

Her heart jumped as she gasped, turning to see Sophie crawling away from one of the Bengal tigers in the show. Jungkook was working hard to yank the tiger back, but the large cat was set on following after Sophie. “Yoongi!” The animal tamer hollered, looking for some extra strength to take the tiger back to its cage.

Yoongi quickly dashed across the ring to assist Jungkook while Anna ran to aid Sophie. The women watched as the tiger roared at them while the men dragged it back into the rehearsal tent. Anna helped Sophie to her feet as she sat on the ground pale as a ghost. “Are you okay?” When Sophie didn’t respond, Anna brought her to sit on the audience benches and checked her for any wounds.

Sophie shook, flashes of the tiger’s sharp teeth snapping back into her mind as she held her stinging cheek. Jungkook insisted she put the oil on her face to attract the tiger close and give the illusion that she was giving it a kiss, but she stayed too close for too long. Anna noticed her holding her cheek and slowly pushed her hand away to see a harsh red patch on the pale flesh. The damage wasn’t severe with only a small trace of blood speckled on the area, but it was alarming to see regardless. “What happened?”

Sophie finally came to and was elated to find the familiar face of her friend, who she hadn’t seen in quite some time. “I kissed a tiger.” She answered simply as if it was a casual encounter even though she was still shaken up.

Anna’s eyes bulged from their sockets, “He made you do that? Is he crazy?” She quickly glanced around looking for a small cloth as she noticed the blood trickling from the small wound on Sophie’s skin. She spotted one resting over Yoongi’s stand and quickly retrieved it before the blood could trail down her cheek. She kneeled to dab it gently against the sensitive skin, careful to avoid causing more pain. “Did it bite you?”

Sophie slowly shook her head as she allowed Anna to clean the remnants of fish oil and blood from her face. “No, but it tried to. This is from its tongue.” It was that day that Sophie learned that like a domestic cat, tigers also had a very coarse texture on their tongue; however, the biggest difference was due to the size, a tiger’s tongue had these small barbs to help it devour its prey. These sharp details on the muscle dug into her cheek while the tiger became overzealous when it caught a whiff of the fish oil.

“I can’t believe he made you do that.” Anna cringed at the thought, examining the little specks of blood seeping into the cloth.

Sophie frowned, “Well, it’s this or I get sold for sex like you.” The tamer’s assistant instantly regretted her words as Anna flicked her gaze to meet Sophie’s.

The conversation Anna shared with the other women in the House of Cards resurfaced, knowing that what they told her was confirmed by Sophie herself. She bit the inside of her cheek as anger simmered in her belly, trying her best to keep her emotions at bay, but finding it hard considering everything she’s had to deal with. “Must be nice to just kiss ass all day.” She mumbled before she could stop herself. She quickly cleared her throat, “I mean, tigers…to kiss tigers all day.”

Sophie narrowed her eyes, put off by Anna’s tone. “Right…well, I have a question. Do they buy you by the pound or ounce?”

Anna stood up and tossed the cloth onto Sophie’s lap as rage boiled over. “Fuck you.” She spat, turning on her heel to march off until she stopped abruptly to throw one more jab. “I guess you already have someone taking care of that, don’t you?”

Sophie stood up, following Anna with the soiled cloth in her hand. “Yeah? Well, right back at you!” She retorted, waving the rag in the air as if to make a point.

Anna never thought she would be so upset with her friend and stepped away to seek solace against the bane of her existence, the wheel of doom. Sophie felt the edges of her expression fall as Anna ripped a knife from the board and slammed it back into the sliced wood. She felt saddened that this was their first interaction since the night they tried to run away and they only seemed to fight.

Sophie slowly approached the rebellious woman, biting her lip as the sting on her cheek slowly faded. “I don’t want to fight with you. I’m sorry.”

Anna dropped her hand from the handle of the dagger, turning back to Sophie as she leaned her back against the board. “Yeah, me too.” She glanced around the arena, sighing heavily. “I hate this place. I wish we were back home.” She was exhausted and could feel the life being sucked out of her with every waking moment as if the House of Cards was stealing her soul slowly but surely.

Sophie crossed her arms over her chest, pressing her lips together as she thought of their circumstance. She missed her old life too, wishing that she could go back to when she dreamed of meeting a kind man that she would marry and build a family with, but now, it was only a pipe dream. She wasn’t sure what her future would hold as a performer in the House of Cards, but her dreams were already tainted by the man named Jungkook. “You should have never gone in the back.” Sophie reminded her as that was the decision that brought them to their current predicament.

Anna placed her hands on her hips, glaring at Sophie. “You won’t ever let that go, will you?” She understood her mistakes, but she didn’t appreciate the constant blame for the hell they lived in.

“Of course not! I told you it was a bad idea and look at where we are now!” Sophie argued, fuming that Anna was being so defensive of her wrongdoings.

Before the unruly brunette could retaliate, an illustrious voice broke through the arena. “Girls, girls! There’s no need to fight.” Both women turned to their gaze to find Jimin, the aerialist, stepping towards them as he dripped with allusive charisma. He smiled with seductive intent, standing between the two beauties. “There’s plenty of me to share, I’ll make sure you each get a turn.” His eyes were dark with lust as he licked his lip, “So which one shall I take first?”

Anna rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest while Sophie blinked, dumbfounded by his confidence. “Ugh, please…” Anna groaned.

A throat cleared as Jungkook came up from behind the wheel, his jaw tense with agitation. He came to stand beside Sophie, wrapping an arm around her waist, making sure to pull her flush against his frame possessively. “She’s mine, but feel free to have that one.” He nodded in Anna’s direction. He led Sophie to turn around, intending to take care of her after attempting such a dangerous stunt, but glanced back one last time to address Jimin. “She likes to talk back so I recommend keeping her mouth busy.”

Anna grumbled as the pair walked away, leaving her alone with Jimin as he prowled towards her. He smiled at her, leaning his arm up against the wheel while leaning close to her. “So, what do you say? Want to go for a spin?” He chuckled at his own joke as he used his leverage on the wheel to make it spin for effect.

Anna smiled falsely, opening her mouth to dismantle his attempts to get her consent when a bright flash caught her eye. She and Jimin froze as she heard the familiar sound of Yoongi’s knives driving a wedge into the wood of the wheel. They slowly moved their heads to see a dagger spinning in place on the bullseye which was positioned between herself and Jimin.

As they realized someone threw a knife just as Jimin was flirting with her, they turned away from the wheel to find Yoongi twirling another dagger between his fingers. His expression was deadly as his glare flickered between Anna and Jimin. “We should be getting back to practice.”

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#bts fanfic #bts smut #jeon jungkook #kim taehyung #bts angst #min yoongi #park jimin #kim seokjin #kim namjoon #jung hoseok #jungkook smut #bts au

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freyayuki · 29 days

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Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia Weiss the Immaculate

The Act 4, Ch. 4, Pt. 1: The Planet and the Immaculate story chapter event just started in the Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia (DFFOO) mobile game.

This story chapter introduced Weiss the Immaculate from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (#ad) as the newest and latest playable char in DFFOO.

I pulled for Weiss, and I talk more about that in another post. Had to split these Weiss posts into 2 since the first one was already nearing the max limit of 30 pics.

Weiss the Immaculate from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Anyway, after getting all of Weiss's weapons, started building him. Leveled him up to 90 and got him to Crystal Level 90.

Completed all of his Summon Boards and Force Enhancements. Bought his Bloom Stone.

Got enough copies of Weiss's 35cp to be able to fully MLB my first copy without having to use a single Power Stone. For his 15cp, LD, and Ex, just spent all the Power Stones needed to fully MLB said weapons.

Although I also got multiple dupes of Weiss's Ex, for now, opted not to fuse these dupes together since said weapon gives a pretty good A Sphere when fully maxed out.

Spent the Book and Ingots needed to Purple or get Weiss's Ex to Ex+ 3/3.

Then spent the High Power Stones needed to fully MLB Weiss's FR.

Spent the Book and Ingots needed to Green his Burst weapon or get it to BT+ 3/3.

Bought all of Weiss's armor and leveled and maxed them all out. Then spent the Book and Ingots needed to Blue his High Armor.

After that, unlocked and completed all of Weiss's Character Enhancement Boards for his 15cp, 35cp, Ex, LD, and FR.

Now he's nearly complete. Just need to farm for his Artifacts and give him some Spheres.

Spheres for Weiss the Immaculate from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Weiss's Sphere slots are A, A, and A. He's a DPS who deals off-turn damage so he wants Spheres that increase his ATK and/or BRV damage.

Was trying to decide if I want to give him triple ATK up Spheres, triple BRV damage up Spheres, or a combination of both.

For triple ATK up, was thinking of his own (+15%), King's from Final Fantasy Type-0 (+20%), and Noel Kreiss's from Final Fantasy XIII (+15%).

In order to proc the ATK up from King's Sphere, the char it's on needs to break an enemy. Since Weiss deals pre-emptive damage by attacking right before another char moves, it should be easy enough for him to keep this Sphere active most, if not all, the time.

Weiss's own Sphere requires the char it's on to have their HP be at least 50% of their max at the start of the last wave so was a little unsure about using this Sphere.

But, these days, fights almost always only have 1 wave and even in quests with multiple waves, the last one tends to be the most dangerous anyway, so I guess this Sphere isn't that bad.

Noel's Sphere just requires the char it's on to attack broken enemies so this should be active pretty much all the time.

For triple BRV damage up, was thinking of Cloud Strife's from Final Fantasy VII (+10%), Vayne Carudas Solidor's from Final Fantasy XII (+10%), and either Gau's from Final Fantasy VI (+10%) or Edgar Roni Figaro's from Final Fantasy VI (+10%).

Cloud's Sphere "raises BRV damage dealt with critical hits by 10%". Gau's Sphere "increases BRV damage dealt by 10% while HP is max". Vayne's Sphere "inreases BRV damage dealt by 10%" when the char it's on attacks broken enemies.

Edgar's Sphere increases BRV damage dealt by 10% as long as there's a debuffed enemy. Weiss doesn't inflict debuffs. But I usually bring debuffing Calls anyway, and I do have lots of other chars who can debuff enemies and who can be on the same team as Weiss.

Since I was considering Weiss's Sphere, also found myself looking at Sephiroth's (from Final Fantasy VII) Sphere which raises ATK and MAX BRV by 10% but only for the last wave and only if the char it's on has at least 50% of their max HP.

I've had my first copy of Sephiroth's Sphere for what feels like forever now. It's a good Sphere but the fact that it was only active on the last wave had me reluctant to use it. But, as mentioned, nowadays, fights usually only have 1 wave so it should be fine to use this Sphere.

Anyway, since I was considering giving Weiss his own and Sephiroth's Sphere, I thought I might as well give him Spheres that were all from Final Fantasy VII chars. So something like his own, Sephiroth's, and either Cloud's or Tifa Lockhart's (+10% ATK up).

But then I thought, wait, since Weiss and Sephiroth both have white or silver hair, why not go for another Sphere that's also from a white or silver-haired char? That seemed more appealing to me so I started looking for possible A Spheres that belong to chars who fit that description.

Since Weiss's and Sephiroth's Spheres already raise the ATK stat, I thought the third Sphere should be one that increases BRV damage dealt.

Looking at a list of BRV damage up A Spheres, the only chars who give said Spheres and who have white or silver hair are Kuja from Final Fantasy IX and Seven from Final Fantasy Type-0.

Seven's Sphere requires its user to deal weakness BRV damage. Weiss deals non-elemental BRV damage so he can't proc this Sphere unless he's been enchanted with an element.

Kuja's Sphere requires its user to deal AoE BRV damage. Weiss does have attacks that deal AoE BRV damage but he also has single-target attacks as well.

I thought about equipping Weiss with Kuja's Sphere anyway, but I was having second thoughts because of its activation condition. Yeah, Weiss can proc the effects of this Sphere often or even all the time but I'd rather increase the BRV damage of all of his attacks, not just the ones that are AoE.

So after thinking about it some more, ended up equipping Weiss with the following real A Spheres:

Sephiroth's (from Final Fantasy VII) Last Boost Attack Up A Sphere

Raises own MAX BRV, ATK by 10% if HP at least 50% of MAX at start of last wave *Does not stack with same sphere

Weiss the Immaculate's (from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII) Last Attack Up A Sphere

Raises own ATK by 15% while HP is at least 50% of MAX at start of last wave *Does not stack with same sphere

Vayne Carudas Solidor's (from Final Fantasy XII) Breaking Power A Sphere

When attacking target afflicted with Break: Increases BRV damage dealt by 10%

Artifacts for Weiss the Immaculate from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Started farming for Weiss's Artifacts. It took some time but was eventually able to get him triple ATK 108 with Deepest Deepground Soldier Up★★ (While Deepground Ruler active: Raises own MAX BRV, ATK by 5%).

Also got him 1 ATK 108 with MAX BRV 330 and 3 MAX BRV 330 with Deepest Deepground Soldier Up★★ Artifacts.

That should have been the end of the farming but then I soon felt the need to get Weiss Artifacts that all cost only 5cp. This is the lowest cp cost while the highest is 15.

But it's absolutely not necessary to get Weiss all 5cp Arts, especially since with the current triple perfect Artifacts that I already have for him, still have more than enough space to equip all of his passives and weapons and such.

I guess the reason why I felt the need to farm Weiss all 5cp Artifacts is because of Sephiroth. Currently, my Sephiroth actually has all 5cp Artifacts. This didn't happen on purpose though. Well, not exactly.

Farmed for Sephiroth's Artifacts a long, long time ago. Back then, Artifact farming was way harder and more annoying. Every time Sephi's Arts were available, I farmed for them until I was eventually able to get him perfect Artifacts. Somehow got lucky in that a few of the Artifacts I got for him only cost 5cp.

So later, much, much later, long after I'd already gotten perfect Arts for Sephiroth, I found myself thinking - well, some of his Artifacts already cost 5cp, so why not farm some more and see if I can change the rest of his Arts to 5cp too?

This happened a while ago so don't remember the exact details anymore but I think this happened during one of those times when Seph's Eidojas showed up in a co-op shop again.

I think I already finished farming for the other chars that were featured alongside Sephi, or maybe I thought that since I was already farming for those other chars anyway, then I might as well farm for Sephiroth too.

Either way, ended up farming for Sephiroth until I was able to get him all 5cp Arts.

This definitely took a long time to finish. Don't think I would've bothered to do this if I didn't already have a few 5cp Artifacts for Sephiroth.

Anyway, it also took me a lot of time before I was finally able to get Weiss all 5cp Artifacts.

Glad to finally be over and done with all this farming. Thankfully, not getting the urge to do this for other chars, at least not at the moment.

I think the only other char I'd bother to do this for would be Genesis Rhapsodos from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. That is, once he finally (hopefully) gets added as a playable char in Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia.

Currently, Genesis is my absolute, most fave Final Fantasy char so if (when, please) he finally gets to DFFOO, will definitely want to fully build him and max him out, which includes giving him the best of everything like equipping him with the perfect Spheres, etc.

For now, I guess Weiss will be the closest I’ll get to having Genesis in DFFOO, at least until they actually and finally add him to this game. Hopefully, they’ll do that soon.

Anyway, now that I have all 5cp Artifacts for Weiss, he's finally fully complete.

Have a Level 5 of 5 Sword Ultima Weapon so equipped that to him as well.

Can't wait to try him out in some endgame content.

Conclusion

So, what about you? Did you pull on either of the Act 4, Ch. 4, Pt. 1: The Planet and the Immaculate banners? What do you think about Weiss the Immaculate? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by reblogging or replying to this post.

Notes:

screenshots are from my Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia game account

#dissidia final fantasy opera omnia #weiss the immaculate #dirge of cerberus: final fantasy 7 #final fantasy 7 #crisis core: final fantasy vii #games #dffoo #gacha games #weiss

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holly-fixation · 1 year

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An Astral Myth: Ch 5

Summary: Cloud Strife is a student at Midgar U, who decided to take art history as an elective. But when an assignment on an “obscure god” (nothing Shiva or he gets stabbed with an ice pick) causes repeated dreams of swirling pink clouds in a blue sky, Cloud has to find out what it means. He's met the 'god' in person, and now they're on their way to test if mako itself is hiding any answers for them.

Inspired by this art by @hueyoart and the concept by @ehrenyu .

Please Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Mako Injections

Cloud and Sephiroth explained everything on the ride to the nearest Soldier facility: shared dreams, given knowledge, late night researching, the sudden appearance of a meteor streak in the sky. Zack and Aerith accepted their explanation, nearly a confession of the truth they were hiding.

Both of them struggled with these memories. Both of them felt out of place, uncertain, unsettled.

“So how do we know when you go all 'god' on us?” Zack questioned, partially as a joke but it seemed like valuable information.

“Most of the time, there is no warning,” Sephiroth stated simply. “That’s why Genesis’ driving.”

The man mentioned simply gave the back seats a thumbs up before continuing his watch on the road.

Cloud’s eyes widened and he nearly snapped at the businessman for his lack of forethought for requesting an in person meeting with the person he killed. Yet his thought was blatantly pasted on his face.

“Neither one of ‘us’ have any desire to kill you.”

“That’s reassuring,” Cloud didn’t miss a beat with his sarcasm.

Sephiroth only gave a small shrug.

“...Cloud, can you send us those docs?” Aerith asked to break the silence, and her friend nodded as he took out his phone. “Thanks.” She then addressed the entire car. “So does anyone here actually know what mako does to a person? Or just super strength?”

“Rumors say it’s linked to early death and delayed mako poisoning,” The other guard answered. “But Shinra can’t fully prove it either way. Some Soldiers live well into their seventies. Some barely make it to forty. It’s more of a toss up than a guarantee.”

“...and your eyes glow,” Zack added in a small voice, glancing away from his girlfriend in embarrassment. Normally, he would smirk at his simple knowledge. Not now.

Aerith tapped his arm to let him know it was okay.

“Wait, what?” Cloud blurted out. “I’m gonna die young from this?!”

“Stay calm. I’m sure our situation will change the side effects. I wouldn’t count on any documented reaction applying to us.”

The blonde took a breath, nodding softly. That made sense. They had no idea what they were getting into. For all they knew, one drop of mako would blow them both sky high. Maybe even to those god awful pink clouds he kept seeing.

Sephiroth stared out the window, avoiding their gazes. “It’s not like it will matter if we fail.”

No one said a word as truthful despair entrapped every passenger in the vehicle. Everyone stayed silent until they arrived at the Soldier facility.

The group grew a bit hesitant as they saw the large sign in front that read ‘SOLDIER Recruitment’, each letter clearly sunbleached and on the verge of decaying. The army abandoned the use of that acronym a long time ago. An old location didn’t technically mean old technology, but it did not sit well in their stomachs.

Genesis gave Sephiroth a shrug. Even with a well known name, this was the closest facility with unreserved mako for any sudden breakthroughs in the physical fitness of whatever poor cadet passed the exam. Poor only in the sense that all exam takers were sworn to secrecy by Non-Disclosure Agreements, and no one outside knew what it entailed.

Sephiroth took the lead, the party following him inside with varying degrees of confidence. He simply went to the reception desk, spoke to the clerk, and handed them an envelope. The clerk slid him two forms, liability and risks of the procedure listed in corporate wording with empty signature lines at the bottom. Both men scanned and signed the forms before they were all escorted to the injection room.

Whatever was in that envelope must have let the others tag along, because there was absolutely no way they normally allowed groups into this room unless everyone received an injection.

A man in a lab coat came into the room through an office door, a clipboard at his side and a needle in his hand. “Alright. Another one of these. Would the two patients please take a seat and roll up your sleeves?”

They both followed the instructions without question.

“Sephiroth, you will be receiving your dosage first. Cloud, you will wait five minutes while I sterilize the next vial in the lab. You’re both leaving with your injections unless you ask to leave.”

“Understood.”

“Got it.”

The doctor-? Nurse-? The professional tightened a tourniquet around Sephiroth’s bicep before cleaning off his arm with a wipe. He gave the manager one last look as he arranged the syringe of glowing green liquid above a vein.

His sky blue eyes did not move, staring directly at the target sharply, the blue tunnels under his skin. The professional gave a soft nod before piercing his skin and forcing the fluid into him.

Immediately, Sephiroth’s breath caught and his eyes were forced closed, his head pushing against the back of the chair. The others watched as his hands slowly opened and closed, tense like claws. Mako stung. Everyone knew that. The reaction was little more than they expected, but no one said a word until the syringe was empty, a bandage was pressed to his skin, and the professional left the room.

Cloud watched everything Sephiroth did carefully, both to study his reaction to the mako and to watch for any possible changes. That warm blanket of dread claimed his heart, the pull and twist that bound them by a red thread of fate.

Both bodyguards moved next to their boss, their friend. Neither one of them knew what Cloud sensed.

“Sephiroth,” Angeal called, hoping for an answer, “are you feeling alright?”

Some feeling in Cloud warned him of danger, a warning he did not ignore. “Guys, back up.”

They gave Cloud a confused look, Genesis glaring at the command until they both remembered just how much this blonde boy knew. They took a step back, and Sephiroth’s eyes lethargically opened.

His eyes were slits, reptilian needles and perfect mako blue orbs that analyzed the people around him. He rested his palms on the armrests of the chair and straightened his posture, his chin just high enough to show his superiority. The air around them succumbed to his imperious presence, and not a single one of them could deny the shift.

The first injected looked down at the bandage where already a bit of red was visible within the fabric. “What a useless attempt,” he stated simply before his mako-blue eyes locking onto their first target.

Cloud.

Cloud wasn’t sure whether he should bow, run, or hide. Every cell in his body screamed with different strategies of how to solve the problem, resulting in a cacophony of thoughts that left him frozen and quiet.

“Using your planet’s life source to gain knowledge to strengthen the planet itself. Even Gaia is not so foolish to remain weak by choice.” An insult to both the party around him and the goddess.

“It was worth a shot,” the redhead defended, gaining a full glare of inhuman eyes stabbing into his heart. But he kept pushing against its will. “It’s not like you’ve provided any aid since you first bothered my friend.”

A deep chuckle countered his complaint, dark and deadly and unhurried. “You haven't been listening. I will never aid you in this task. I am neither your enemy nor your ally.”

“Then what are you?” Zack didn't mean to sound so accusatory, genuinely wanting to know.

The god smirked a bit. “For you, nothing,” the words rolled off his tongue like poisoned sugar. He turned to the two guards. “To you, I'm the man you will abandon when I need you most. Then it's a matter of time before my weak consciousness finally shrivels away.”

“Hey wait a minute-!”

“Let him speak,” Cloud silenced the interruption without thinking, without hesitation and without turning his eyes away from the god speaking before them.

The god looked to Cloud without missing a beat. “I am your everything. And I await the moment your despair claims you before Mother arrives.” Lastly, his slit eyes landed on the girl in pink.

Aerith immediately tensed under his gaze, and Zack wrapped an arm around her in protection.

His lip twitched as he watched her. “I am the god your people chose to ignore, Cetra. I nearly wiped you from this planet for your ignorance. Be grateful to humanity with the time you have left. I'm surprised a kind as fragile as yours survived in a world run by humanity's greed at all.”

Though everyone else stared at the god in confusion, the girl's gaze hardened. Zack's eyes were the only ones on her, and he did not expect the fire he saw.

“We gave you knowledge, exactly as requested. We respected you, as asked. We were not told to worship you.”

Now everyone’s eyes fell on Aerith. She knew things about this? She knew anything about this god?

“Hm.” A soft scoff. A mocking tilt of the head. “For once, humanity thought ahead, and your kind faltered.”

“We obeyed Gaia-”

“You are but a blade of grass in a field. None of you know the true scope of any god’s instruction.”

She glared away at the truth of his words, and his guards grabbed his attention.

“We can deal with that later,” Genesis cut into their conversation with a harsh push of the topic. “What makes you think we'd abandon our friend, god?”

Cloud cringed at the harsh tone. Genesis was going to get them killed, he just knew it. This god was about to light them on fire or summon a meteor or blow up the sun just for the attitude.

“You both are merely gears in a chain.” He stated simply, his gaze completely neutral. “When it strikes, whatever severs my human soul, you will instantly find reason to leave. Be it for the ‘greater good’ or selfish some endeavors, you will abandon me until my past is all that remains and my human side turns to dust.”

“You don't know?” Cloud caught on immediately, and the powerful eyes returned to him with silent questions. It hurt to breathe under that gaze. “You don't know what will… ‘transform’ your human side into the God of the Stars?”

The small shake of his head unnerved them all. “Whatever ties me to this planet will be taken, and the tragedy will bleach this life to nothing but a memory. Remember that when his aid suddenly vanishes.”

Cloud gulped.

Sephiroth just chuckled darkly, dearly at the reaction, as if reminded of a fond memory. “Just as weak as before.”

Was he actively trying to insult them all?

“I wish you luck, Sacrifice. Though I do not care of your outcome. If you manage to convince me, then this planet deserves to live. You know the consequences of your failure.” After that final message, the mako in his eyes faded, barely glowing in the smallest reminder that it struggled to flow through his veins. His pupils returned to tiny saucers as he forced his eyes closed, teeth bared in a silent growl.

They saw the shift from god to man before them, his guards choosing to focus on his condition while the dark haired man stared at his girlfriend in complete confusion. Cloud had no idea what to do, so he just looked down.

It took a moment before the manager calmed and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. “Cloud, what’s your bank account information?”

The puzzled look on Cloud’s face was impossible to control. “W-What?”

His pale fingers kept maneuvering through his screen, eyes never moving up “I don’t know how much longer I have left, and I have no idea what’s coming. I’m sending you enough to do this without me.”

“Hold on a second-”

“Would cash be easier? I can arrange that as well. A couple emails and I can get it in your hand tonight.”

“Slow down-” Genesis interrupted.

“I don’t have time to be slow,” Sephiroth snapped, and Cloud backed down, understanding completely.

Sephiroth had absolutely no idea what was coming. No idea when it was coming. But a tragedy was waiting for him to lose himself to a godhood he did not want. Something in the shadows. Something dark. Something to engulf him in such utter despair he would willingly hand over his consciousness. Something.

“I can send you my cash app info. Would that work?” Cloud finally answered.

“Perfect. I can set up automatic payments to your account as well.”

Cloud immediately got to work.

Though the rest of them were rightfully concerned with the god’s warning, only two focused on the god’s information.

“Aerith,” Zack questioned caringly, his hands softly resting on each of her shoulders. “What’s a ‘Cetra’...?” With all the supernatural occurrences around them, his girlfriend not even being human was still cause for concern.

Aerith took a shaky breath. “...They’re almost the same as humans… We can just…communicate with the planet…”

His eyes went wide. “You can speak directly to Gaia?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. Not Gaia. Gods, how do I explain this…” She racked her brain for a decent explanation. There was no use in hiding anything. They already knew. “It’s like… I can speak to the leaves on a tree? But Gaia is the trunk? She’s there sometimes but… it’s very very faded. Completely diluted. Especially alone…”

Zack glanced away, desperate to lessen the weight this entire situation placed on all of them. “Wow…” He mumbled in slight awe, yet he still forced a bit of playfulness into his voice. “The girl of my dreams isn’t even human…”

She shrugged frustratedly. “I’m half human. But would you believe me if I told you?”

A sad laugh left his lips. “Probably not. I’d assume you were making a really weird joke or reference I just completely did not understand.” He smirked at her.

He still smirked at her. She didn’t believe he would look at her if he found out the truth. She surely didn’t believe he would pull her into a hug to soothe her fear away.

“Sephiroth, we swear, we will not abandon you whenever this ‘tragedy’ happens,” Angeal decreed.

But Sephiroth shook his head as both he and Cloud returned their phones to their pockets. His voice bled with anguish, “I don’t think any of us will get a choice.”

Suddenly one of the doors in the room opened, and the professional returned. Everyone shut their mouths as Cloud was given the same treatment as the business man. Nobody stopped him from taking the liquid. Every one of them clawed for all the answers they could find.

When the professional left, and gave them the instruction to wait half an hour before leaving the facility, Cloud’s eyes were clenched closed from the stinging pain of the mako moving under his skin.

He wasn’t like Sephiroth. He had no connection to his past self. He didn’t even know if ‘he’ could help. But he needed something. Anything. Anything to save this planet.

Anything to protect Tifa.

With every shred of his mind, he tried to weave through the mako. They used to say mako was the blood of the planet, right? A few extremist groups did at least. Was there anything he could do? Anything he could know? Anyone who did know?

Did anyone on this planet know how to strengthen Gaia and save her life?

Cetra. North.

Go there.

Cloud gasped, pulling in a breath he didn’t know he was holding back. Two thoughts. More than he ever could have hoped for.

“We need to go north,” Cloud informed them all the moment he could control his breath. “The Cetra there might know something. They might have a way to strengthen the planet. If we’re lucky, maybe they have all the answers we need.”

Their small party was desperate. If somehow a trip north held all the answers, then they would take it without hesitation. Well, some hesitation. Cloud could only thank whatever part of the mako gave him those thoughts.

Still, they needed time.

Zack swore he only needed a couple of hours to get all his past work from his college years together and send them to Cloud. If their goal was to save the world and they were successful, Cloud couldn’t sacrifice the year for ‘sorry, had to go on a religious journey’. How else could he explain this to a normal person?

Sephiroth needed time to hunt a way to get them north. The closest airport was in Junon, but that would waste a day by car. If there was any possible way to charter a ship to the waters north of Midgar, he had to take it. But that wouldn’t be a quick process, so he would inform the rest of them the moment his decision was made and times were chosen.

However little time they had left before leaving the city, Cloud wanted to spend every last second with the girl he never told his true feelings to. He wanted to do something with her, anything, from simply watching a movie to going on their own little adventure in the city. He hoped she was back from her trip. He needed to see her just once. One more time before his life was consumed by his mission to save her.

Thanks for reading!

#ffvii #sephiroth #cloud strife #ff7 angeal #ff7 genesis #ff7 aerith #ff7 #final fantasy vii #zack x aerith #cloud x tifa #angeal hewley #genesis rhapsodos #zack fair #aerith gainsborough #mako time

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namixart · 1 year

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Crossing lines, hand in hand, ch. 6

Read on AO3!

Cloud had started to track every kind of smile Aerith had. There was the mischievous little smirk she always had when she was teasing him, the gentle curve of her lips when she was being reassuring, the excited grin when something pleasantly surprised her… The list went on and on, and Cloud was just self-aware enough to recognise that it was, maybe, just a little strange for him to keep track of that. But Aerith smiled often and brightly, and he had given up pretending he was immune to it, even if just in his head.

Their visit to Cosmo Canyon had brought to light a whole new smile.

In the morning after their chat by the Cosmo Candle, there seemed to be a new energy to Aerith, after a day of subdued anxiety and sadness. If Cloud thought about it too hard he’d trick himself into thinking he may have said exactly the right thing while stumbling over his words to reassure her that she wasn’t alone because the team—he—was by her side.

She’d been the first to set out to pick up odd jobs when the mechanic had said they’d need another day to fix the buggy, and she’d spent most of the day running about the village and keeping busy with a bubbly cheer Cloud hadn’t seen in a while. Of course, it meant that she was absolutely spent by sunset, when she stepped into the pub and dropped down in the chair next to Cloud with an exhausted sigh. He smiled a bit into his glass of water.

“I am beat,” she announced, stretching her arms over her head.

“I bet,” said Cloud. “You’ve been pinballing around the town all day.”

Aerith waved a hand in the air. “Not my fault you’ve been slacking off,” she giggled.

“I’ve done plenty,” he replied in a huff. “You just wouldn’t stand still long enough to pay attention.”

“Oh, I pay attention to you, believe me.”

Cloud shook his head, and he heard her laugh next to him. She leaned with her elbows on the wooden table and looked around the tavern. “This is nice.”

He hummed. The locale was crowded, but not too loud. The voices of the other patrons criss-crossed and overlapped, creating a wall of background noise that, paradoxically, made Cloud feel like he and Aerith were alone there. Whatever they said, nobody would be listening. Idly, he wondered where the rest of their friends were, but Aerith lightly bumped his shoulder and shook him out of his reverie.

“Hm?”

“Gil for your thoughts?”

Cloud shrugged. “No thoughts.”

“No Gil then. Didn’t think Cloud Strife, infamous cheapskate, would miss the opportunity for a nice pay-out.”

“One Gil ain’t a nice pay-out.”

“Never said how many. Your loss.” Aerith giggled, then she sighed and leaned against him, shoulder to shoulder. “I’m so tired,” she said quietly. Cloud got the feeling she wasn’t just talking about the odd jobs.

“Yeah,” he said. “I know.”

She sighed again, and he snuck a glance at her. She was staring into nothing, a slight frown on her face. Cloud bit his lip. “You want anything? Something to drink?”

She huffed out a half laugh. “I’m good.”

Cloud looked at the crowd for a second. “…Wanna get outta here?”

Aerith straightened up. “Oh, yes. Yeah, let’s.” She got up first, and took his hand to gently pull him after her. They wove through the people around them until they slipped out into the chilly night.

Aerith shivered, but took a deep, relieved breath. “Thanks,” she said.

Cloud shrugged. “You could’ve told me you didn’t wanna be there.”

“I didn’t realise,” she said, with a sheepish grin. “Not until you said it.”

He hummed. “D’you wanna go to bed? Or—”

“No, no.” She glanced around. “I’m not that kind of tired.” She shifted the hold on his hand—she hadn’t let go—so that their fingers were entwined. “Let’s just… stay awhile. Is that alright?”

He swallowed a knot in his throat. “Sure.”

Aerith smiled. She tugged lightly on his hand. “Come on—there’s a great spot I found yesterday.”

Cloud let her lead him through the tunnels of Cosmo Canyon in companionable silence, until they reached a small door deep into the mountain. Possibly. Cloud’s sense of direction completely vanished inside those tunnels. Aerith let go of him to pull the door open with both hands, then shot him a sly smile and slipped through. Cloud had to crouch a little bit to follow her.

The door opened on a small balcony overlooking the entire dark valley. The night was clear, and the stars were shining like ground crystals scattered across the pitch-black vault of the sky. In the distance, Cloud could hear the voices and music coming from the inn, muffled and faint.

He took a step forward. “This is…”

Aerith laughed quietly. “Beautiful, right?” She leaned on the railing and motioned for Cloud to join her. “I’ve never seen so many stars at once.”

Cloud hummed. “Well, that makes sense. Midgar.”

She made a face. “Yeah. But also… We’ve been on the road for how long? Two months? And I don’t think I’ve ever properly gone stargazing.” She looked up with a sigh, and Cloud didn’t reply.

Neither of them spoke for a while. Aerith was looking at the sky, with her face softly lit by the torches littered around Cosmo Canyon. Their flames, as well as the stars, danced in her eyes in mesmerising patterns and light games, and everything about her was at once sharper and blurrier. Cloud didn’t think he’d ever fully get used to Aerith’s contradictions. There she was, so close to him that he could feel the warmth radiating off her skin and hear her soft and regular breathing, but she felt so far away at the same time, like she was waving at him from the edge of the world, daring him to come after her. And he knew, sure as the rising sun, that he always would.

She turned to look at him, and Cloud realised he’d never even glanced at the sky.

“You know…” she started, voice low. “You can say whatever’s on your mind.”

“Hm?”

“It’s just…” She sighed. “Sometimes, you look at me like I’m a puzzle. Like you’re trying so hard to figure something out.”

Cloud felt his ears burn. She was right—as always. “I do?” he asked, carefully.

She giggled. “Oh, you know you do. But…” She reached out and took his hand again. “If you wanna know something, you can ask. I’ll try to answer, promise.”

He nodded slowly.

“So… What is it?”

It was such a simple question. He didn’t even have to have an answer, she was just expecting another question in return. But Cloud shook his head. “I dunno,” he replied honestly.

Aerith cocked her head to the side.

“I dunno,” repeated Cloud. “It’s on the tip of my tongue, though.”

I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to know about everything that’s on your mind. I wanna make you smile until you forget what it was like to cry. But there’s so much you don’t say, so much you keep hidden. You always feel just out of reach. I feel like you’d vanish into thin air if I tried to hold your hand.

And yet, here you are. Holding mine.

Aerith smiled. “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

He gave a faux-annoyed huff. “Just my luck, huh?”

Aerith just laughed and winked, then she met Cloud’s eyes and her expression immediately softened. “Yep,” she said, squeezing his hand a bit. “’Fraid you’re stuck with me, Mr Bodyguard.”

It was a sort of shy smile that reached her eyes, crinkled with affection and wonder, as if she was looking at something special and secret. But it was just him.

Cloud swallowed a knot in his throat. He was so, so completely screwed.

He could only nod with a small smile of his own. Aerith drew a little closer to him and looked up at the sky again. “For the record, it’s the same for me.”

“Hm?”

“One of these days I’ll figure out what questions I should be asking you.”

“Oh.” Cloud furrowed his brows. He didn’t think there was much about him she didn’t know, much that she hadn’t immediately understood when they’d met. “Okay. I, uh, I’ll answer.”

Aerith hummed. “Thanks. Hey, you know about constellations, right?”

“A bit.”

“Tell me.”

“Alright.”

She smiled.

Their visit to Cosmo Canyon had brought to light a whole new smile for Aerith. It also marked the first time Cloud caught himself thinking that he wanted to kiss her. Although, if he was being honest, it wasn’t much of a surprise.

#final fantasy vii #cloud strife #aerith gainsborough #clerith #my fics #my writing #my stuff

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wolfantlersinspace · 11 months

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Tagged by @ellionne ❤️❤️

I'm bending the rules a bit by doing the first paragraph of each, but none of them are particularly long, don't worry.

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

1. As Your Vice

Naruto | Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Itachi

The long lines of Itachi's body, sliced apart by a red blinking light, looked delectable. He was all smooth pale skin, bruised lips and wrists, hair tousled across the pillow. He was divinity and temptation, the forbidden apple, ambrosia upon the lips of a mortal.

2. your face is momentary

Naruto | Gen

The shackles are heavy. It is the first thing Shisui notices upon waking: the unforgiving weight of skin-warmed metal around his wrists and ankles, tethering him to stone.

3. Born to gaze into starry skies

Naruto | Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara

The Uchiha compound sat on the other side of the Nanako river without a bridge to connect them. Yet. Tobirama carried the plans with him today, a bridge that would bring them into the village for good. Hashirama hoped they would move into the space next to the Senju clan houses, but Tobirama didn't have much hope–the Uchiha had too much of a connection to this land to give it up without a fuss.

4. Cynosure

Harry Potter | Harry Potter/Voldemort

Putrid black smoke coiled through the air, a dense cloud surging into the sky and spilling over the rim, brushing the yellowed grass. Pettigrew raised his arm over the cauldron and Harry looked away just as he brought the knife down. His pained scream told Harry all he needed to know. The splash it made as it landed in the cauldron was grotesque and he wished he could cover his mouth.

5. Duplicity

Naruto | Gen

"You're not eating enough," Itachi said, his voice flat and observant. He sounded the same as he had in the days before he'd killed their entire family.

6. fasting black lungs

Harry Potter | Harry Potter/Voldemort | Ch 1/3

Grief lingered through Number Thirteen Grimmauld Place's halls like the thick layers of dust upon the windowsills. Harry ran a finger across one, gathering grey upon the tip of his finger and grimacing.

7. Parallels

Naruto | Gen

It says something that Itachi even goes. Oftentimes, he can't bring himself to leave his room. He doesn't want to dwell on it, but the way Kakashi sits beside him, rigid in his vigil, makes it a little easier.

8. meaningless

Naruto | Gen

For an S-rank, this mission was surprisingly lax. Since Naruto's appointment as Hokage, mission rankings had changed significantly. No one needed to be assassinated anymore. There were rarely any political rivals causing strife. Border skirmishes weren't orchestrated by other villages. Peace flowed like a river across the continent.

9. we could have been

Naruto | Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito

"I adore you," Kakashi says, and it's not I love you, not quite. But it spills from his lips like a confession, awestruck and wonderous, and those careful fingers slide over his cheeks reverently, like he can't reconcile that Obito is here, next to him. Alive.

10. The Birthday Mission

Naruto | Gen

Naruto didn't know when Kakashi-sensei's birthday was. The realisation was sudden, shocking, and he sat down heavily, staring at his kitchen table. He and Sakura celebrated theirs together every year, just a small thing tucked away in Naruto's shitty apartment, eating takeaways and talking about life. They didn't often get the chance to see each other, with Sakura's neverending shifts at the hospital and Naruto's projects around the village.

I can't think of anyone in particular to tag, so anyone who wants to do this, I tag you 🔥

#tag meme

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elegantmadness · 1 year

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Seeds of Doubt, Chapter 1

Fandom(s): Final Fantasy VII (potential spoilers for Crisis Core, OG game, Remake, Intermission, Dirge of Cerberus, and/or Advent Children), Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy XIII. Please note, however, that this is not a cross-over; the characters I've brought in are considered to be from Gaia/FFVII's universe. Knowledge of FF 8 or 13 isn't necessary to understand.

Summary: President Shinra's sons have concocted a plan: bring the Seven, Shinra's First Class SOLDIERs, into the fold, and begin to dismantle the company from within.

But even with the aid of the Turks and peripheral support lent to Avalanche, all does not go according to plan.

Main/Major Characters: Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley, Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, Lightning, Squall Leonhart

Please note: Cetra/Ancient!Squall Leonhart, and Odin-living-inside-Lightning-a-la-Chaos-in-Vincent.

Side/Secondary Characters: Lazard Deusericus, Rufus Shinra, Auron

Mentioned Characters (as of ch. 2): Hojo, Hollander, Seifer Almasy, Irvine Kinneas, Rinoa Heartilly, Gast Faremis, Ifalna, Jenova, Edea Kramer, Gillian Hewley, Jecht, Serah Farron

Rating: For this first chapter, it's T. The overall fic will be E.

Pairing/Relationships: Oof. The Seven will be swinging. Any combination you can imagine will likely be involved. Each chapter will have its pairing/poly specified, however. This opener has no explicit pairing.

AO3 Link

Sephiroth’s gaze drifted away from his slowly-dwindling stack of paperwork as he glanced towards the analogue clock on the wall, and once more considered the meeting that was set to begin in less than twenty minutes. Something was going on, though that much was obvious from the news that every first-class SOLDIER would be in attendance. Sephiroth couldn’t recall a single time they’d all been involved in the same mission, though such was to be expected unless there was a crisis on the horizon. Lazard hadn’t been forthcoming about the details when Sephiroth had asked the previous day, the man proving even more cagey than usual. It was possible Angeal might know more – he and Lazard seemed rather friendly, after all – but it was rare to see his friend at headquarters anymore.

No doubt Shinra was… concerned about the three of them being in close proximity, and while he’d argued at the time, he’d been soundly overruled. Genesis was now in charge of Zone Two, half a world away in a region of Gaia that included Wutai, and Angeal had been given Zone Five in the north, home to Modeoheim and the otherwise frigid region surrounding their reactor and the well-known Icicle Inn.

He had to shake the memory free from his thoughts or he’d never finish his work, however.

Or, at least, that had been Sephiroth’s intention. He hadn’t seen Genesis or Angeal in months, and the solitude had begun to wear on him. There was no shortage of people working for Shinra, but most seemed either afraid or in awe of him: an idol to be seen as more – and less – than human, and he hadn’t the patience to deal with such things.

“Knock knock! You ready for the meeting?”

There had only ever been one exception to this beyond Genesis and Angeal, and Sephiroth felt his lips curl up into a soft smile as he looked up over his computer console and met Zack’s gaze. “It doesn’t start for another ten minutes,” Sephiroth reminded him, not at all surprised when Zack dropped his hand from the door jamb and slipped inside, his nervous energy palpable as he wrung his hands together and quickly shifted his weight from one foot to the other multiple times.

“But I’m excited!” Zack replied with a grin, his blue eyes glimmering as he finally let himself drop into the chair on the other side of Sephiroth’s desk. “I haven’t seen Angeal in ages! And have you even met the other Firsts? I’ve only read Leonhart’s reports when Lazard lets me, and I didn’t even know Farron was a woman until Lazard mentioned it in passing yesterday!”

Sephiroth let out a low chuckle at that. “I have never met Leonhart, but Farron and I have exchanged messages in the past. Never in person, though,” Sephiroth added a little slyly, watching as Zack’s mouth parted and subsequently closed before he could even voice his question. “And Strife? You and he have been on assignment together lately, haven’t you?”

“Oh, he’s good. Still embarrassed whenever I mention you, but good,” Zack offered, a touch of mirth twisting his lips almost into a smirk.

Sephiroth let out a quiet sigh at the reminder. When Strife had been training to take his place as a First, Sephiroth had gone with Zack to observe just as Strife’s weight distribution shifted in the wrong direction and the sword he’d been holding fell out of his hands and clattered to the floor. He’d turned such a dark shade of red Sephiroth had even feared he’d cut himself inadvertently…

“You’ve told him he doesn’t need to be embarrassed, yes? None of us were born with sword skills,” Sephiroth reminded him, though Zack merely arched an eyebrow at him.

“You sure about that, Seph? ‘Cause if you ask around it sounds like you popped out of the womb with Masamune in your hand.”

“Now there’s an interesting image.” The pair turned towards the doorway, and Sephiroth’s brow smoothed as Zack all-but-leaped out of his seat and threw himself into Angeal’s arms. “I missed you too, Zack.” Angeal’s chuckles were quiet and warm as he returned the embrace a little more gently, Sephiroth standing in a seamless motion and approaching as Zack finally released his old mentor.

“It’s been too long,” Angeal greeted Sephiroth with a fond smile, though Sephiroth merely lifted an eyebrow at the hand being held out to him.

“Seriously? A handshake? You two have met before, right?” Zack teased Angeal readily, laughing at the exasperated roll of Angeal’s eye before offering Sephiroth a one-armed hug.

“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Genesis yet, you have?” Angeal wondered aloud, though Zack and Sephiroth exchanged a look before shaking their heads. His smile fell at that before he nodded and straightened just a little. “Well. I guess we’d better get down to the meeting, then. With any luck, he’s already there and waiting for us.”

–

The briefing room hadn’t changed at all, and Genesis wasn’t entirely sure if such a revelation annoyed him to no end or gave him comfort. He’d been out west for months now, gauging the Wutaians’ intentions and trying his best to maintain the ceasefire and negotiate for a reactor, but for every step forward he made, something else always seemed to impede his path and drive him three steps back.

The novelty of being away from Midgar had worn off quickly. He’d yearned to return for the art and culture he missed being in the middle of nowhere, not to mention the friendships he’d spent years cultivating. He trusted the men under his command, helped them train, saw them through the worst of the mako injections and wartime injuries, but comrades-in-arms simply weren’t the same as those on equal footing. Angeal had been his rock, Sephiroth his muse and constant drive to do better, and they’d been taken away as though he’d been a naughty child.

Genesis glanced up as the briefing room door slid open with a quiet hiss, and straightened himself when a pair of mostly-unfamiliar men strode inside. The blond was vaguely familiar, with a head of hair so spiky it could have given Zack a run for his money, but the other… his face bore a scar right across the brim of his nose. It was almost startling to see, considering how quickly SOLDIERs healed, and Genesis idly wondered if he’d received the scar before his mako treatments.

There was… something else, Genesis was noticing. The scarred brunet seemed almost… overwhelmed. If his arm brushed the blond’s he winced away and tried to hide his natural inclination to recoil, but he never actively drew away. Auburn eyebrows narrowed curiously just as the pair of them turned their gazes in his direction.

“You are… Zack’s friend, yes?” It wasn’t the most welcoming introduction, but the blond simply nodded before settling into one of the chairs at the briefing table.

“Cloud Strife. You’re Genesis, I take it?” Genesis didn’t even try to stop his lips from curling into a lazy smirk.

“What gave me away? The garishly-red coat, perhaps?”

“Among other things, sure,” Cloud replied with a shrug, not rising to the bait and leaving Genesis just a little disappointed. The brunet had yet to say a single word, and Genesis let his gaze wander to the other man just as the door slid open again.

“Welllllll! Looks like a party in here,” Zack announced, dropping a hand onto Cloud’s shoulder and squeezing before looking over at Squall curiously. “Nice to meet ya! I’m Zack. I understand you’ve been helping my buddy here on a few missions lately, yeah? Thanks!” He reached a hand out for Squall to shake, and Zack pointedly ignored the glowing redness on Cloud’s cheeks as Squall blinked at him owlishly before offering Zack the briefest shake of hands physically possible.

“Ah! Angeal! I’d nearly forgotten what you looked like.” Angeal’s eyes rolled at Genesis’ greeting, though he didn’t shy away from the embrace when it came. “And you,” Genesis turned his attention to Sephiroth after pulling back from the lulling warmth and breadth of Angeal’s chest. “You’d better be prepared to spar.” Sephiroth offered him a weak smile as he tried to contain his sigh.

“You never change, do you?”

“Of course I do. I’ll keep getting stronger until I finally best you.”

“Gentlemen.”

The conversations ground to a halt when Lazard stepped inside, though he was not alone. Rufus Shinra trailed after him, his suit and hairstyle immaculate as he looked over the assembled Firsts.

“I count six, Lazard,” Rufus spoke lazily, knowingly, his blue eyes glinting. “Where’s the last?”

“On her way. There was a storm north of Junon that delayed their helicopter,” Lazard explained before turning his attention to the Firsts. “First, allow me to thank you all for coming back to Midgar. I know a meeting of this magnitude is unprecedented.”

“Yeah, what’s going on, Lazard? Is there going to be another war or something?” Zack piped up, though Genesis crossed his arms over his chest as he slipped into one of the chairs.

“Hush now, Puppy. Let the director finish.” Zack bristled a little at the old nickname, though took a seat on Cloud’s unoccupied side before glancing back up at Lazard.

“There is something going on within Shinra itself that warrants a great deal of… scrutiny, perhaps even action,” Lazard continued, trying his best to sound diplomatic.

“We are all well aware of the ethical… concerns Shinra scientists combat, Director,” Sephiroth interrupted stoically, taking a seat next to Genesis and folding his hands on the table.

“Is that right?” Rufus answered knowingly, producing a golden coin seemingly out of thin air and letting it fall over his knuckles. “I fear even you are unfamiliar with just how deep the depravity runs, Sephiroth.”

Sephiroth’s lips thinned at that, his hands tightening until what pigment they contained readily dissipated. Rufus Shinra had not been born in a lab, had not endured the physical and psychological torture–

He froze in place when a red-gloved hand settled over his, Genesis’ eyes glinting dangerously as his shoulders tensed. Was Genesis angry… on his behalf?

“Sorry I’m late.” More than half a dozen pairs of eyes snapped to Lightning immediately, though she simply straightened and looked ahead, seemingly uninterested.

“Not at all, Farron. Take a seat.”

“We can finally get this meeting started.” With that, Rufus pulled out his phone and pressed a single button, though if it had any sort of effect, no one noticed. “Lazard and I have been digging into the science team’s misadventures over the years, and came across several projects that involve…well, everyone in this room save for the director and myself.”

That particular bit of information had everyone suddenly quieting, the heaviness in the air reminiscent of a gravity spell a new cadet had misfired and caught them all inside.

“You’re really just going to… air Shinra’s dirty laundry?” Zack was the first to recover, his face contorted as though he smelled something particularly unpleasant. “To us? Now? Don’t you think it could get a little personal–”

“Oh, it will mister Fair, I assure you.” Lazard’s glasses glinted in the glow of the overheard monitor as he pushed them back up the brim of his nose. “No one here has been exempt from Shinra’s misdeeds. Perhaps we are overstepping our bounds, but I see no alternative if you all are truly to grasp the lengths Shinra will go to in order to obtain power or further their own scientific interests.”

“Hmph. Nice way of saying shut up, Director.” It was the first time Leonhart spoke, and the sarcasm in his tone was heavy, his eyes slipping shut as he leaned further back in his chair. Zack’s smile spilled over into a grin as he tried to contain his chuckles, and even Genesis and Sephiroth exchanged amused expressions.

“It seems you’ve volunteered first, Leonhart, which is just as well. Your particular circumstances are the most peculiar and mysterious.” It was Rufus who addressed him this time, though Squall did little but eye him warily. He knew better than to interrupt the vice president of Shinra even if he thought this entire meeting was pointless.

“So you’re just going to do this out in the open? With an unlocked door, glass windows, and recording devices watching us all?” Lightning spoke up this time, one of her gloved hands smoothing onto the table as she gave Rufus a rather demanding look. She’d taken the last, empty chair since stepping into the room: the one at the end by Leonhart, and leaned out far enough to see the pair of blonds glance at one another.

“She has a point, Director. If anyone were to see what we were doing, well, being fired would be the least of our troubles.” Angeal had settled between Zack and Genesis, and the tension in his form was noticeable to Genesis; no doubt Angeal was dreading to hear whatever these men had to tell them, but Genesis, for one, was curious to hear what they had to say.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rufus scoffed. “The Turks have dampened this room from security, and the room itself has been sealed and is currently projecting nothing more malicious than a briefing running long.”

Lightning seemed settled by that, though Angeal shifted in his seat only just – enough for Zack and Genesis both to notice. Zack even shot Genesis a tacit question with a raised eyebrow to which the redhead merely shrugged in return. Angeal had never liked secrets, had always preferred frank albeit hard conversations to hiding unpleasant truths.

“Now. If no one else has any objections…,” Lazard’s voice trailed off as he glanced around the room, waiting for several heartbeats before nodding to himself. “Very well.” The monitor came to life as he navigated to one of the files on the console, and Squall couldn’t quite help how his shoulders hunched and his jaw tightened as Lazard began to explain.

“Over twenty years ago, there was a scientist here at Shinra who was convinced that the way to procure the genetic material of an Ancient was to use Time Materia. This, of course, was before we made our discovery in the bowels of the Northern Crater.” The picture on the screen showed a slight woman, pale and dark-haired, and Squall’s jaw tightened even further. “Now, when I say Time Materia I refer not to that which we have now – these were not simple slow and stop spells she was attempting.”

“Wait wait. Ancients? Seriously? I thought they died out a long time ago,” Zack couldn’t stop himself from piping up, and Lazard inclined his head in Fair’s direction before answering.

“Precisely.”

“...She was attempting to use the Time Materia to travel to another time,” Sephiroth supplied for Lazard.

“We had no evidence of any remaining Ancients, so if Shinra wanted samples or specimens, returning to a time when they still lived undoubtedly seemed a logical step.” Genesis scoffed at that, though Angeal’s brows were furrowing. How did this relate to Leonhart…?

“So, what? You’re saying she succeeded?” Genesis offered mockingly, though the tense expression only grew on Lazard’s face.

“It’s impossible to say,” he finally offered. “The last of her logs were corrupted, though we suspect they were tampered with by Professor Gast.”

“Gast?” Sephiroth murmured softly, thoughtfully, a sliver of silver bangs falling against the long line of his nose. “Was he not the scientist who found Ifalna?”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you know about that,” Rufus remarked, leaning back in his chair as Lazard cleared his throat to regain attention.

“Gast claimed that Dr Kramer died from her own experiments, and that Leonhart wasn’t connected to her, but the timeline fits. When he returned from dealing with the remnants of Kramer’s research, he brought a young Leonhart with him. He claimed you were simply… suited for becoming a SOLDIER, but we have our suspicions. Your sensitivity to mako is of particular note, and your affinity for magic and materia is… substantial.” It was here Lazard paused, adjusting his glasses once more as Squall openly scoffed at his theory.

“So that makes me an Ancient, does it?” It little helped matters that he couldn’t recall anything before meeting Professor Gast, though that didn’t prove anything.

“This is ridiculous,” Lightning practically hissed in the Director’s direction. “If you don’t have anything worthwhile to tell us, then–”

“Sit down, Farron.” Lazard was rarely the type to raise his voice, and Lightning froze upon hearing it, her eyes gleaming menacingly before she clenched her jaw and sat back down.

“Lazard, please. You have to realize how ridiculous this all sounds. Everything you’ve shown us is circumstantial at best, even if the timeline does somehow fit.” Angeal was ever the voice of reason, though his protest was met only with a soft sigh from Lazard before the monitor on the wall changed.

“I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you how far Professors Hojo and Hollander are willing to go when in the midst of an experiment, though I think you’ll agree that Projects S and G are radical, even for them.” Rufus was silent as Lazard did his best to explain, his probing gaze assessing the room. Leonhart was, as ever, unreadable, though a muscle twitched in his jaw from how tightly he grit his teeth. Under different circumstances, Rufus might have teased the man about breaking his jaw if he weren’t careful, but now wasn’t the time for levity.

“The remains found in the Northern Crater were not, as first suspected, those of an Ancient, but rather, from an alien who crash-landed on the planet millennia ago.”

Lazard clicked once more before a picture of the alien’s remains appeared on the screen, and a foreboding sense of dread permeated the room. “Jenova, a powerful specimen whose genetic structure we still have yet to fully understand. Its cells have been used in research experiments for over two decades now, and one fact is undeniable: each host that comes into contact with its cells becomes immensely more powerful.”

“I don’t like where this is going…,” Zack muttered quietly under his breath, though everyone heard it and silently agreed.

“Project G, or Project Gillian as Professor Hollander dubbed it, exposed Jenova’s cells to a host, one Gillian Hewley–”

“What?!” Angeal’s eyes were as wide as saucers, disbelief coloring his tone. “You’re telling me my mother had something to do with Shinra and these so-called experiments?”

“Of course, but you were not the only subject, Angeal,” Lazard answered him gently, knowing this sort of revelation would be… difficult to digest for a multitude of reasons.

“Not the… only test subject?” Angeal furrowed his brows in confusion before he connected the dots and glanced at Genesis.

Lazard let out a heavy sigh before pressing on. “Gillian’s cells were exposed to Genesis Rhapsodos as an infant; however, once Hollander determined no meaningful difference, he considered that particular experiment a failure.”

Angeal winced at Lazard’s choice of words, though he knew something was amiss when Genesis’ shoulders began to quake. He fully expected an explosion of sorts, expected Genesis to lash out, but the man instead began to laugh, manically and loudly. “A failed experiment?!” Genesis demanded, slamming a fist onto the table, his laughter making way for the growl that spilled out of his mouth.

“Genesis…,” Angeal tried to placate him with a hand on his shoulder, though the redhead dislodged his hand forcefully, the tension in his body growing further.

“His assessment, not mine,” Lazard pointed out. “I cannot pretend to understand the nature of these experiments, but you have done nothing but exemplary work for SOLDIER, Genesis.”

The director’s words did little to quell Genesis’ growing fury. “Save you pity for someone else, director,” Genesis scoffed at Lazard’s meager attempts at pity or sympathy or whatever he thought he was providing.

Angeal had grown quiet at Genesis’ side, contemplative even, and his hands clenched together as he stared up at the overhead monitor, his insides twisting themselves into knots. “And? That isn’t all, is it?”

Lazard frowned at the tone of Angeal’s voice; no doubt he didn’t want the answer to his question, though now that he was being confronted with it, he couldn’t look away. Angeal was unflinching in that regard, and Lazard admired him for it even as he pitied him. “You, Angeal, were Hollander’s success. Being Gillian’s natural-born son enabled you to show results Hollander was looking for, but…”

His voice trailed off, and the image on the monitor changed again. “Professor Hojo’s experiment was ultimately deemed the more successful of the two, which is why he now heads Shinra’s science department instead of Hollander. Instead of infusing a host with cells and exposing those cells to specimens, Hojo cut out the middle man. He directly injected Jenova’s cells into his colleague’s unborn child, and his results are inarguable.”

“Project S?” Genesis sneered, narrowing his eyes over at Sephiroth. “Who else could be the pinnacle of Shinra’s research but the almighty Sephiroth?”

The man in question betrayed no emotion save for the subtle tightening of his fingers and the slight twitch at one of his temples.

“Holy shit!” Zack reacted for him, his expression a mixture of disbelief and disgust. “Who the fuck thinks it’s a good idea to inject alien cells into a baby? I mean, Seph’s okay, but for fuck’s sake! What is wrong with that asshole?”

“I don’t think we’d have enough time to discuss what’s wrong with Hojo if we were here all night,” Cloud piped up, his arms crossed and his gaze down, though there was an unmistakable smile tugging at his mouth.

His words made Angeal smile despite himself, and even Genesis snorted in amusement, the cloud of his anger finally beginning to dispel.

“All night? We would have insufficient time were we to remain all week,” Sephiroth added glibly, and even Lightning chuckled at that, Squall’s lips twitching despite himself.

“I know it’s a lot, and I apologize for dumping this on all of you, but there is, unfortunately, more to cover.” The room seemed to heave a collective sigh of exasperation, though no one offered any resistance to the idea. Angeal, however, did glance over at Sephiroth, concern furrowing his brows. Sephiroth inclined his head only once to indicate he was all right, though Angeal decided they’d have a talk about it later. A drink sounded like just what he needed right then, even if it was near-impossible to get drunk.

“I’m sure I don’t need to remind you all of the Nibelheim incident,” Lazard continued, the monitor’s image switching to a glimpse of the town and the reactor. Cloud tensed at the reminder, though Zack’s hand on his melted it away almost as easily as it had come. “Officially, there was an accident in the reactor, and one Cloud Strife and Zack Fair endured rather severe cases of mako poisoning. In all honesty, we weren’t sure you two would ever recover. Unofficially, however, Hojo engineered the accident to test another of his theories.”

“W-wait a sec,” Zack interrupted Lazard with a few, weak chuckles. “What exactly did he do to us? Because I don’t feel any different from before. Or, I don’t think so, anyway.”

“What does Hojo do best?” Rufus answered lazily, as though nothing in this meeting was of particular interest or importance to him. “Injects his test subjects with Jenova cells, of course, though in your case, S-cells from our dear General here.” Sephiroth flinched at the revelation, and Cloud merely shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“From what we can tell, Zack, you were resistant to them given your SOLDIER training and likely the mako infusions.” Zack breathed out a sigh of relief at that, though Cloud was holding his hands so tightly it was a wonder his bones hadn’t broken from the strain. “Cloud?” Zack whispered softly, laying a hand on his shoulder before the blond shrugged it off.

“I say we storm up to the science lab and torture the little bastard for a few days,” Genesis offered, settling back in his chair. No doubt he considered wheeling it back even further to rests his ankles on the table, but such was rather unseemly for a meeting.

“Because I’m sure Shinra would just love that,” Squall scoffed at the suggestion. No matter what horrors Hojo performed, all were things Shinra undoubtedly knew about and okayed before he set to work. After all, even a failed test subject could be a weapon against Shinra’s enemies.

“He’s right. If we touch Hojo you know they’d retaliate,” Lightning pointed out, much to Genesis’ annoyance.

“How, exactly? In case either of you have forgotten, we’re the best fighters Shinra has.”

“Did you forget the army of mechs they have in development? Or public security? Or all the SOLDIERs of second and third class they could throw at us?” Angeal snapped uncharacteristically, his lips thinning into a line.

“As pleased as I am to see that we’re on the same page, there’s still one more matter to discuss. Lazard?”

The spectacled man nodded as the image on the monitor shifted once more, though this time, it was a simple picture of a red sphere: summoning materia. “I’m sure you’re all aware that, while Shinra has been successful in replicating almost every type of materia, creating summoning materia remains out of our reach. Most have accepted as fact that it simply exists in nature, and there is no way to create it ourselves.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Genesis proffered when Lazard took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“It was believed that biologically engineering new summoning materia was a viable path, and so one of our scientists somehow managed to graft a summon’s consciousness onto a living being.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea,” Zack muttered, and Angeal could only nod wordlessly, the idea in conjunction with everything else making him almost sick to his stomach.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, this didn’t end well. The child was examined shortly after birth, and the experiment deemed another failure.”

“Until I lost control,” Lightning supplied, staring down at the table as numerous pairs of eyes landed on her. “I can take over from here, director. It’s my story, after all.” He nodded before Lightning swallowed and looked up with a renewed sense of determination. “The Turks watched me when I was kid, visited all the time, though I had no idea why. And then… the visions started, the dreams and nightmares. It was terrifying; some days I could barely tell if I was still awake or stuck in a nightmare. I could hear thoughts that weren’t mine, could recall things I’d never experienced; I almost felt stuck in someone else’s body, with access to someone else’s memories.” Her hand clenched suddenly, and her jaw trembled before she pressed on.

“I didn’t realize he wanted out so badly, or that I was the only obstacle in his way, but when he took over…I was just a puppet.”

“So what happened?” Cloud was the one to ask, neither judgment nor curiosity in his tone.

“The Turks weren’t enough to stop me, stop him, so they called in SOLDIER. If it weren’t for Auron, I’d’ve been locked up in Hojo’s lab after he’d subdued me. He’s the one who taught me control, who taught me how to look after myself, and Odin.” There was unmistakable shame in her downcast gaze; this was not a story she told often for obvious reasons. After hearing all the horrible things everyone else had gone through, though, she felt she deserved to be just as transparent.

“So, he’s still there? Odin?” Zack asked gently, trying not to pry or let his eagerness show.

“All the time,” Lightning answered, slightly bemused by his caution. “If I focus, I can hear what he’s saying, but he gave up talking constantly in my ear a long time ago.”

“Does he still take control?”

Lightning blinked at the question Sephiroth posed, her lips pursing. “I won’t say it’s not a struggle sometimes. He can be an opportunistic bastard when he wants to be, but for the most part, we’re in sync. If something happened to me, we’re not sure what would happen to him, so it’s in his best interest to help if I’m in danger.”

“Must come in handy, having a summon at your command like that,” Genesis wondered aloud, though Lightning simply shrugged in response.

“I’d prefer to be alone with my thoughts,” Lightning answered drily, earning a few chuckles for her trouble.

“So,” Squall began, looking back towards Rufus and Lazard. “Now that you’ve got all that in the open, what now?”

“Now? Now we let you all consider. And once you come to the inevitable conclusion that Shinra needs to go, we’ll give you more of an idea of our plans,” Rufus responded simply.

“And you’re just that confident we won’t expose you?” Squall asked pointedly, though Lazard and Rufus simply shared a look.

“After all that you’ve just heard? I sincerely doubt it, mister Leonhart. Even if you don’t necessarily believe everything right now, it must be enough to give you pause; your own experiences within the company have likely been enough for that. But for now? No one’s going to be assigned before the week’s end, so take some time and think it over. Dismissed.”

Next Chapter ->

#final fantasy 7 #final fantasy vii #crisis core #ff7 crisis core #ffvii #sephiroth #zack fair #cloud strife #angeal hewley #genesis rhapsodos #squall leonhart #lightning farron #my writing #ff7 fanfic #ffvii fanfic #final fantasy 7 fanfic #final fantasy vii fanfic

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themurphyzone · 2 years

Text

Pinky Unleashed Ch 2

AN: The prologue chapter was getting to be a bit long so I decided to put the second half into a separate chapter.

Warning for torture, spiders, and Pinky whump.

Sonic Unleashed Opening Cutscene

New World Symphony Song Link

AO3 Link

Ch 2: Prologue: New World Symphony Part 2

Pinky pressed himself against the window to better admire the pretty colors of the Earth.

When people called the Earth a blue planet, they didn’t understand just how blue it really was. There was azure, sky, cerulean, sapphire, robin’s egg, turquoise, and countless other shades, all mixed into one big, beautiful, blue sphere. White clouds lazily drifted on top of the blue layer, while the green and brown landmasses stood proudly among the rest.

“Take in this view now, Pinky,” Brain murmured, his nose and cheeks squished to the glass and leaving a foggy imprint behind. “Just think, everything the light touches will soon be ours.”

"I can't wait!" Pinky clapped his hands with glee. Then he noticed a strange dark blob on the coast of one of the landmasses. "But what about that dark shadowy place over there?"

"Probably New Jersey," Brain mused. “You must never go there, Pinky.”

Pinky nodded, trusting that Brain had good reason for keeping him out of New Jersey.

Several minutes passed, and Brain hadn’t taken his eyes off the planet yet, completely enamored with the sight.

But Pinky was curious about the second level. He wouldn’t stray too far from Brain, because it was a huge place and he didn’t want to get lost.

Looked like he wouldn’t have to worry about losing sight of Brain though.

Unlike the level below them, which had been made up of cramped, dimly lit passageways, the second floor was a single, enormous room with a high arched ceiling. The other side was far away from them, and the windows offered a view of outer space beyond Earth. But there wasn’t much going for the interior. No furniture, plants, not even a little drawing to spruce up the area.

Honestly. Was he the only one who appreciated the art of interior design?

Nor did he didn't see any staircases leading up to the third level. The only other way out of the room was through a set of tightly shut elevator doors. And there weren’t any buttons to press on the side. A space elevator and they couldn’t even ride it!

Pinky tried to pull one of the metal panels aside, but the doors wouldn’t budge.

Maybe he couldn’t get into the elevator…but Brain would be able to come up with a plan in thirty seconds or less!

“Brain!” Pinky called as he tried to tug open the elevator doors. “You got any brilliant ideas on how to get these doors unstuck?”

But Brain didn’t respond. He just gazed at the big beautiful Earth, his ears drooping down to his shoulders.

Pinky stopped running and approached Brain at a slower pace so he didn’t startle him out of his ponderings.

“The world is so serene, so peaceful when you view it from above,” Brain said quietly. “But all this tranquility will disappear once we return to the surface. And there will be nothing but pain, strife, and corruption everywhere.”

Yes, there were lots of bad things down there. They couldn’t see all the intolerance and fighting from space.

But there were many, many good things too.

Pinky wrapped his arm around Brain’s shoulders and pulled him close. Brain stiffened as the side of his head fell against Pinky’s chest, but relaxed as Pinky gave his shoulder several gentle pats.

“Just think of rainbows and pretty beaches, Brain,” Pinky suggested. “Daisies, horses, and yummy cheese too. Homemade sweaters, bacon-flavored pencils, ice sculptures, and-”

“-rhythmic gymnastics?” Brain finished.

Pinky grinned. “Narf! See? You’re getting the hang of it! Rhythmic gymnastics with cute twirly ribbons!”

“You forgot elegant movements and elaborate costumes,” Brain added. His gaze finally broke away from the Earth, and towards his feet instead.

There wasn’t anything there, except for a speck of space dust.

Before Pinky could ask what he was pondering, his ears twitched at a strange noise behind them, like a million little spiders were scuttling across the floor.

Click click click.

“Um, Brain-”

“Not now, Pinky. I’m trying to focus on our scouting mission again.”

Click click click.

They weren’t alone.

Someone else was here.

Click click click.

The fur on the back of Pinky’s neck rose as something cold brushed by the untamable tuft on his head. A massive shadow fell over them, and Brain gripped Pinky’s hand, pink eyes wide with fear.

Slowly, they turned around.

And it wasn’t a million little spiders scuttling along the floor. Pinky could’ve carried Brain out of the swarm if that had been the case.

Instead, a massive, looming spider composed of countless Microbots focused all its lenses on them. Its eight mechanical legs stretched out to all corners of the room, and any Microbots who weren’t part of the spider linked their metal pincers together, creating an iron spiderweb that blocked the staircase leading into the room. The Microbots constantly shifted within the spider, and Pinky became dizzy from trying to track each individual unit.

Brain clung tightly to Pinky, and Pinky clung to him in return.

“Spiderbot,” Pinky whimpered. He wasn’t normally afraid of spiders, even the big ones that ate mice like them for breakfast, but he was definitely going to be scared of them after this.

"Pinky," Brain whispered, and even though he was trying to mask his fear, he couldn't hide the trembling of his paws. "On the count of three, run for the staircase."

They would be backtracking, but they were too young to be eaten by a giant Spiderbot!

Wait, how old are we again?

That stray thought quickly ended as Brain started his countdown.

"One…two…"

Thousands of lenses shined a bright, dangerous red, pointing straight at the mice in a blinding spotlight.

"RUN!"

Upon Brain's shout, Pinky bolted for the stairs, ignoring the heavy clank of metal and dragging Brain along behind him. But Brain couldn't run nearly as fast, and his hand quickly slipped out of Pinky's.

Several pincers shot out from the Spiderbot's maw, snatching Brain up by the strap of his flash drive. Brain shouted some words that would've made his mother wash his mouth out with soap, furiously tugging on his flash drive to loosen it from the Spiderbot's grasp. But there wasn't much he could do when his lower half dangled ten feet above the ground.

The lenses narrowed, shining their red spotlights on Brain. Pinky's normally strong stomach churned, even worse than the queasiness he'd felt on the plane. The Spiderbot had way too many lenses for eyes on its head, legs, and sides. There was no cover, no way to avoid its sight.

Brain finally yanked his flash drive out of the Spiderbot's grasp, breaking the strap in the process. His legs kicked out for any solid ground. He held onto the flash drive with one hand, the other hanging onto the Spiderbot's raised leg for dear life. He wasn't masking his terror anymore. His pink eyes were round and shiny as he stared into his reflection within the lenses. He was going to fall!

"Brain!" Pinky screamed, rushing over to where Brain dangled helplessly in midair. "It's okay! I'll catch you!"

He held his arms out and waited, keeping his eyes on Brain and doing his best to ignore the Spiderbot's eyes.

Then Brain let go without hesitation, and Pinky caught him. The Spiderbot smashed the flash drive to pieces, bits of metal and plastic raining down. Brain was slightly disoriented from the long fall, but he recovered quickly.

“Thanks,” Brain said weakly. His cheeks turned a bright red.

They were in a rough situation, but Pinky managed a smile anyway. “Always,” he replied.

But the moment didn’t last.

A long, metallic pincer clamped around Brain’s waist, straight from the Spiderbot’s maw. Brain latched onto Pinky, screaming in pain as the Spiderbot tried to yank him off.

“Don’t let go, Brain!” Pinky shouted. He didn’t care if the Spiderbot was stronger, or that he only held Brain’s hands now, he couldn’t let it win!

Tears formed in the corners of Brain’s eyes, but whether it was from the pain of being pulled in two separate directions, or from a pain that ran far deeper, Pinky didn’t know. But he couldn’t hold on anymore, nor could he say or scream for help.

His hands slipped out of Pinky’s. The pincer retracted, and the Spiderbot consumed Brain entirely. His hand, still stretched out for help, was the last to sink beneath the mass.

And Pinky screamed Brain’s name over and over again, hoping that he would wake up and be ready to run for safety, but Brain didn’t resurface.

The Spiderbot turned its back on Pinky as it quivered, red lenses trembling as columns of Microbots stretched from its backside. The Spiderbot had nine, ten, eleven…sixteen columns of legs as the head of another Spiderbot emerged from its backside, red spotlights shining down on Pinky.

“Targets separated. Main target acquired. Targets separated. Main target acquired. Prepare main target for delivery. Main target main target…”

Pinky’s ears hurt from the cacophony of screechy robotic voices from each unit that formed the Spiderbot.

The new Spiderbot was only half the size of the original, but still just as intimidating. Its abdomen finally emerged as it separated entirely from its twin and grabbed Pinky in its pincers.

Unlike Brain, this Spiderbot didn’t pull Pinky into itself. Instead, Pinky was left to dangle from its maw. He struggled to break free, trying to reach Brain, but the clamp around his waist was too strong.

The elevator doors opened, which had been tightly shut before.

The Spiderbot crawled inside, only able to fit by bracing its legs against the wall. One of the Microbots shined its spotlight onto some kind of keypad, and the doors slid closed, blocking Pinky’s view of the Spiderbot that had consumed Brain.

The elevator jolted and moved towards the first level.

Brain should be here too, Pinky thought, wishing they could enjoy the elevator ride together. The wall behind them was made of thick glass, offering another gorgeous view of Earth. Brain would be back on his feet in no time. He’d break free of that mean Spiderbot and rejoin Pinky on the third level. Or if he couldn’t, then Pinky would just have to find a way to get the information Brain wanted and bring it back down to him.

And the elevator opened, revealing a smaller, circular room. Once again, the Earth was just past the glass. Pinky wouldn't ever tire of that view.

As the spider crawled into the room, Pinky noticed a small platform that led up to a raised area filled with computers that displayed some squiggly lines and numbers he couldn't understand.

But Brain could.

Brain would've flitted from monitor to monitor to gather all the data while talking about all the cool landmarks he'd add to Braintopia.

"Um, thanks for showing me the third level," Pinky said nervously to the Spiderbot, whose red eyes were fixed straight ahead. "Think we could grab Brain from your twin down there? I bet he'd like to see this too. Poit."

The Spiderbot didn't react.

"Must it always be about Brain with you?" an all too familiar voice complained from somewhere above him.

Amber fur. Pink eyes that were the same shade as Brain's, but glittered with cruel ambition instead of carefully veiled emotions.

Snowball.

Brain tried to give him tips on how to handle himself around Snowball after the jungle incident, but all Pinky could remember from that lecture was Pinky, don't ever get stuck in quicksand again or I shall have to hurt you.

And there wasn't any quicksand here, so he already had that covered.

Snowball was seated on an elaborate high-backed chair that hovered over the room. His hands were tucked under his chin, elbows perched on the armrests. One leg was casually crossed over the other.

“Place him on the transfer pad,” Snowball ordered. “Then release him and standby for further orders. There will be no need for concern. He can’t do anything for himself when Brain isn’t around to dictate his actions.”

The Spiderbot dropped him onto a shallow dip on the floor, surrounded by eight strange iron protrusions on the ground. Sparks of electricity jumped from tip to tip.

“Hello, Pinky,” Snowball said nonchalantly, like they were meeting for cups of overpriced coffee at Starbucks. “It’s been a while.”

"It has?" Pinky whispered, more focused on trying to get some feeling back into his waist.

All his instincts were screaming at him to run, to find Brain and get out now. Even if Brain would be mad about abandoning a plan so early, he could easily come up with another.

Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, not even for a mouse.

"Afraid so," Snowball smiled, though it lacked any warmth. It just made Pinky feel small. “Why am I always the one who has to reach out to both of you? Does it really take that much effort to at least send a postcard?”

Sort of? Picking out a postcard was hard. All of them had such pretty pictures.

“Reach out?” Pinky echoed. “I don’t remember getting anything in the mail from you, besides that chain letter.”

Snowball waved his hand dismissively. “Yes, but that was such a long time ago. I’m surprised you have the capacity to remember that. No, Pinky. I meant more recently. A bit unorthodox, I suppose, but the fact that you’re here at all has only confirmed that Brain has seen my broadcast and delivered you accordingly.”

“...delivered?” Pinky whispered.

It sounded like Snowball was trying to say Brain handed him over, but Brain usually tried to avoid anything that had to do with Snowball. Sometimes they’d meet up by accident and Snowball would get under his skin while trying to kill both of them.

And Brain would never hand him over to Snowball. Not willingly.

Which meant…

Brain doesn’t know Snowball’s here.

He would’ve abandoned the plan entirely if he’d known it was a trap. Pinky had seen him furiously tear up any roughdraft that even held a slight chance of Snowball getting involved.

“Quit acting like a parrot. Or is your sadly underdeveloped vocabulary limited to repeating what others say?” Snowball snapped. Then he took a deep breath and reclined in his chair. “Now, let’s get to business, shall we? You’re here for a greater purpose, Pinky. A far greater purpose than witnessing Brain’s constant failures of conquest every night.”

Though Snowball was outwardly composed, there was a strange, predatory look in his eyes. He pushed a button on the armrest.

I have to warn Brain! We have to get out of here!

Warn Brain. Get out. Warn Brain. Get out.

He repeated his mantra over and over again as he climbed out of the transfer pad and ran for the elevator. The Spiderbot didn’t chase him down. It only stood in the corner, waiting for Snowball’s orders.

But it didn’t need to do anything.

And Pinky smashed straight into an invisible wall, the impact knocking him onto his back. He rolled over onto his stomach, trying to catch his breath as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

The force field shrank, shoving him back onto the transfer pad he’d tried to escape from. It surrounded the iron bits sticking out of the ground.

He was trapped.

A tingling sensation coursed through his body. He was used to being shocked from chewing on wires that Brain didn’t want him to chomp down on, but the tingles never lasted this long.

“Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred. And my magnificent city requires a great deal of energy. So much that I require a living vessel to contain even just a fraction of its limitless power…and to awaken its origin as well.”

A…living vessel?

The tingling sensation became uncomfortable, quickly pushing beyond Pinky's tolerance for pain. His limbs locked in place, trembling uncontrollably. He curled his fingers and toes and pressed them against his palms and soles, but it wasn’t doing much to take away the agony of the electricity coursing through his body.

“Br-Brain…” Pinky gasped, falling over as he tried to crawl to the force field’s wall. “Help…me…”

His voice wouldn’t work. Neither would his arms or legs.

How was he supposed to get Brain’s help if he couldn’t call for him, or go back to the second level himself?

The energy cannon quaked. Light fixtures swayed and broke. The Spiderbot broke apart, its Microbot units spilling across the floor in an enormous heap. The red lights died from their lenses. The room was bathed in darkness, save for the electricity that sparked around him.

“It’s time.”

Pinky raised his head, the only part of his body he was able to move, and even that took effort.

The enormous cannon unfurled like a giant metallic flower, but there was nothing beautiful about the electricity and metal inside it.

Dread washed over Pinky as the energy cannon's trembles grew worse.

An enormous yellow laser beam hurtled from the cannon to the Earth below. It slammed into the blue ocean, and rippling waves pulsed through the planet.

The laser drilled a hole deep into the ocean, exposing a cavern filled with hot, glowing lava.

And dark purple, snake-like tentacles poured out of the cave.

There was something else in that hole. Something that was far worse than lava and rock.

It was alive. And it was climbing out of the Earth's core.

A giant plant? A monstrous snake? A dragon?

He wanted Brain more than anything. Brain would have a name for that horrible monster who lived inside the Earth. Brain would be able to stop these tremors that wracked and paralyzed Pinky's body.

The creature opened its enormous maw and unleashed a fearsome roar. It was formless, energy sloughing off its shapeless body and covering the world in a dark purple fog.

Deep cracks formed on the edges of the continents. The hole was larger, the cavern deeper.

And the world split apart.

Entire landmasses moved away from the core, taking the oceans with them. The monster's claws struck Central America, cleaving North and South America into two separated parts.

Europe, Asia, and Africa drifted away from each other, snake-like tendrils forcefully pulling them out apart.

The monster dissolved, its essence spreading through the entire world, save for one snake that slithered up the laser beam that continued its assault on the planet.

It was all the warning Pinky had before the snake phased through the pad, looming over him with its cruel fangs bared.

Blank white eyes glowered down at him. Its forked tongue flickered.

Then it struck.

Pinky screamed. Darkness filled his vision, every part of his body on fire. His limbs were yanked in every direction, and he was pushed, pulled, squeezed, and twisted all at once.

His arms felt thicker, bulkier, heavier. His ears bled at the sound of his fingernails harshly scraping against metal. He gritted his teeth, flinching when something sharp jabbed his gums, a trickle of blood leaking onto his tongue.

He caught a glimpse of dark gray fur that moved erratically, though he didn’t know where it came from.

The crackle of electricity. The screech of his fingernails against the floor. Other sounds that he didn’t know the source of, that he shouldn’t have been able to hear but somehow did.

And among them was a panicked voice, one that was alone in an unfamiliar place when he shouldn’t be.

“Pinky!”

Though the voice was trying to be strong, trying to order him to come at once, it trembled. Begging, pleading, fearful.

Brain needed him now, more than ever.

I’m here, Brain!

That’s what he wanted to say. But his words came out in a scream instead…and his screams grew deeper, more gutterral, and he was scared by the strangeness of the sound. Until they became so much that he couldn’t call for Brain anymore.

He could only howl, over and over again.

I have…to get…to Brain…

Brain would tell him it was all just some horrible nightmare. That he wasn’t in pain and the world was still whole. That they’d never come to this energy cannon in the first place. That those purple snakes and the scary monster in the Earth’s core were just a figment of his imagination. He was safe in bed, his chin resting on Brain’s chubby head, with the exercise wheel and water bottle beside them.

And finally, the electricity stopped coursing through his body. The iron protrusions sank back into the ground. The force field disappeared.

Pinky collapsed, panting for breath. His chest ached so much. His body was heavy…too heavy. It took so much effort to move.

But he knew he had to find Brain.

Brain would make a plan to fix this. He could make a plan for everything, including fixing the world.

“So the Gaia Manuscripts were true…” Snowball mused. “That senile excuse of a professor wasn’t lying after all.”

Snowball was behind this. Snowball had destroyed the world that Brain was trying to conquer. Destroyed the world they lived in, the only world they’d ever known. He tormented Brain, laughed at his pain, tried over and over again to drive a wedge between them.

And he doesn’t care at all.

Pinky growled, pushing himself up with too-heavy arms as he faced Snowball. A haze settled over his mind, an unfamiliar, terrifying fury coursing through his limbs.

Snowball returned his glare, his lip curling with disgust. “Ugh. A bit more savage than I would’ve liked,” he sneered. “But with some proper training, you’ll be an adequate conduit for my grand city.”

You destroyed the world! Put it back! NOW!

His thoughts were out of control. Everything was blood-red. The Microbots, the window, the broken planet, Snowball himself…

Terrifying, awful snarls deafened him. He didn’t know where they were coming from.

There was something he had to do…right? Someone he had to find.

But in this confusing red fog, in the thoughts that were encouraging him to destroy everything in his grasp, he couldn’t remember who he had to find.

He couldn’t remember anything anymore.

His name, his birthday, faces and friends and family…

They were all gone.

“Prepare for transport,” a voice said.

The voice that belonged to the one who had caused this entire mess. The one who had separated him from whoever he had to find.

With a furious snarl, he pounced, nails hooking into the sides of the hamster’s hoverchair. His weight unbalanced the chair, and the hamster crashed to the ground.

Dropping to the floor himself, he loomed over the hamster, his shadow engulfing the smaller form beneath him. And the hamster’s smugness vanished.

Pink eyes widened in fear.

Amber fur became ivory. Large ears, sagging cheeks…

And he was staring into the terrified pink eyes of the one he was searching for. Someone who was his best friend. He almost hurt his best friend.

The foreign, terrifying thoughts were gone. More color leaked into his vision, though the room was still dark.

It was too dark. He was scared. He wanted his friend.

He wanted…Brain.

Brain had to know his name, right? He was the one who came up with it.

But…he was so tired. Everything hurt. He didn’t have enough strength to look for Brain.

With a whimper, he took a few steps back and collapsed. There was nobody here to soothe the pain.

Something clamped down around his waist and lifted him into the air. He didn’t fight back. His arms hung down as dead weight, tail limp and lifeless.

A hatch was opened. He was stuffed into a circular hole in the wall. The cushion wasn’t comfortable. But he curled into a tight ball anyway. It didn’t do much to take away his throbs and aches though.

There was a loud slam. Everything was dark. The thin, rectangular window only offered a view of the broken world, the monster’s tendrils ensnaring the planet in shadow.

The pod jolted. He slammed into the wall. And he lay there, unmoving except for the tears that ran down his cheeks and splashed onto the floor.

He was falling. Away from the energy cannon, away from Brain…

And everything faded around him.

End AN: I’m going to credit @wimsiecal again for doing this wonderful piece of Pinky in his transformed state!

I apologize to any arachnophobes out there. It’s a well documented fact that spiders are the go to for any video game creator who wants to make a creepy boss fight.

Pinky doesn’t know about his transformation yet. He’s too disoriented right now, although he knows something isn’t quite right.

I had to be careful with Pinky attacking Snowball. Some parts had to be taken out because while Pinky is going to be more aggressive, I don’t want him to be sadistic even when he does lose control. He’s just scared and upset more than anything else.

Pinky really just wants Brain to comfort him…and the next chapter will be Brain’s perspective on the world being destroyed, the immediate aftermath, and some feelings too.

#pinky and the brain #pinky unleashed #patb fanfiction #animaniacs

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foraltruism · 7 months

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"I'm not saying that you're dumb for being out here without something to fight back with, but a piece of plywood wouldn't have done anything against those things."

#ch. cloud strife #ic. interactions #*bonks enemy with large sword*#*bonks u with soft fist*

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omegasquire · 6 months

Text

Rose Gold: Ch 17

Pale blond brows furrowed. Irritation was evident on a youthful face as that person looked to the distance. All around them were fields of snow, yet just below was a small settlement that could hardly be called a town. It looked more like a jumble of houses gathered in one spot, with mindless ants wandering between them.

“We should kill him.”

The mutter that came from this person’s lips reached the ears of another. Sharp green eyes shifted to look at the man. “Who?”

“That traitor. He keeps interfering.”

Another voice joined in, letting out a sigh. “Isolfr...”

The first speaker, Isolfr, clicked his tongue as he looked at the other two, driving the blade deeper into his victim. The three of them were brothers, triplets by using human terms. None of them cared to identify themselves as such, feeling they were more like pieces of a whole. They were both separate entities and fragments of each other.

They were their mother’s precious children.

Looking away from his siblings, Isolfr gave an impatient wave of his hand and yanked his weapon out. He tossed the body out of his way. “Rael. Vyd. Are you done? We don’t have time for this. We can’t keep Mother waiting.”

The second brother, Rael, pushed up from his crouching position and absently brushed off the snow on his pants. “Yes, you’re right. We must go quickly.” He carefully pulled his sword out of the human corpse bleeding on the ground and let it vanish from sight.

The third brother, Vyd, suddenly had a bright smile on his face. He let out a laugh that easily expressed his excitement. “We can’t keep our older brother waiting either. I can’t wait to meet him!”

Isolfr silently sneered and made his way down the hill. Yes, he was looking forward to meeting the one who both was and was not their brother. And after they united, Isolfr would slit that traitor’s neck and present his head to Mother.

~*~*~*~

Cloud silently followed Sephiroth as the other man led the way. He had put the helmet back on so he could freely walk in plain view. He had no idea where Sephiroth was taking him, and if he had any choice Cloud would prefer not to be in his company to begin with, but just as Sephiroth had told Zack, they had something to discuss.

Their conversation in the training simulator wasn’t enough. If anything, it didn’t even scratch the surface. He still needed to know about Strife and the things around him, and it seemed like Sephiroth was going to give him some insight. It was an opportunity he couldn’t brush off, no matter what feelings he had about the other man.

He quietly followed him as Sephiroth led them towards the elevators. There was no conversation between them as they waited, nor even as they rode the elevator to another floor. The air around them was stifling, making Cloud choose to lean against the rail on the opposite side of the elevator.

Even if he didn’t look, he knew Sephiroth was watching him, which didn’t make matters any better.

Holding back a defensive comment that wanted to spill from his mouth in response to the scrutiny, Cloud waited silently until the elevator announced their arrival and Sephiroth once more took the lead. Cloud didn’t recognize the surroundings, but the plaques on the doors gave him the impression that these were offices.

His brows knitted slightly in confusion.

It wasn’t until Sephiroth stopped that Cloud realized where they were. Just like the other doors, there was a plaque on the door Sephiroth was standing in front of:

General Sephiroth

Sephiroth opened the door, letting Cloud see the office beyond. The sight of it made him pause, not sure what he was expecting to begin with.

The room had no outstanding features or unique style; it looked like it came straight out of a catalogue. Entering the office, Cloud couldn’t help but look around. In his own world, he never visited Sephiroth’s office. He hardly knew it even existed, the man always seemed to be out of reach, committed to a field mission or some other project that kept him away from headquarters.

It was hardly a detail that Cloud could even focus on as he was training as a cadet; just glimpsing Sephiroth on the television or hearing about him on the news was about as close as any of him or the other recruits got to being in the man’s presence unless they were specifically called to join a mission. If not for the fact that Nibelheim was his own town, Cloud doubted he would’ve ever personally met or fought beside Sephiroth.

So, it was a bit strange to see that Sephiroth owned an office, even if it made perfect sense.

The office was spacious, with Sephiroth’s desk at the far end and plenty of room for a small meeting table as well as a couch. There were books lined up on the shelf, along with a display case of certain items. There was even a spot to hold his sword.

It all looked so normal. Anyone could work in an office like this, it was so neat and organized. It was just missing personal effects.

Actually... No, that wasn’t right.

Sephiroth set down one of the containers on the meeting table and took the other one to his desk. Cloud had thought the two of them would have to sit at the table together, but it seemed the other man was giving them both space.

It was as Sephiroth was sitting down at his desk that Cloud noticed a couple picture frames facing away from him. He couldn’t tell what the images were from where he was, but they had to be special or different somehow.

The thought surprised Cloud. Sitting down at the table, he took off his helmet opened the food carton as he rolled the thought around in his head. Sephiroth with personal items like pictures on his desk... It was so normal. Too normal.

This Sephiroth was not like the one he was familiar with – and he knew that already – but it was one thing to simply know and to witness the differences. The corners of Cloud’s mouth started to tug downward; he hid it by putting food in his mouth.

The room was quiet as the two of them ate, allowing Cloud’s gaze to wander and soak in his surroundings. Particularly, it was to observe Sephiroth who seemed to be ignoring him. Compared to what happened just a few minutes ago, the abrupt change in demeanor felt awkward. Cloud never had this sort of encounter with Sephiroth before, and with someone who wasn’t even from his own reality, he didn’t know how to approach him.

Inadvertently, it led to Cloud silently studying the other man. He still didn’t know a thing about him. The situation they were facing offered little to no time for the two of them to sit down and talk, and considering he was under watch, Cloud had no freedom to even bring it up. In all honesty, he didn’t even want to.

And yet, this unexpected opportunity was being presented to them both. Whether they liked it or not, the moment had come.

Cloud’s gaze lowered to the food that Zack had gotten for him. He paused mid-chew as he tried to sort out his thoughts.

Before he could come up with something, a low voice reached his ears.

“There was nothing abnormal about his file.”

Cloud lifted his head. Sephiroth wasn’t looking at him, but he knew the man was paying attention to his reactions.

“What did it say?” he questioned after swallowing, lowering his fork.

“Cloud Strife. Fourteen years old. Blond hair. Blue eyes. Hometown: Nibelheim. Born on the 11th of August. Single mother. No relatives in service or as an employee of Shinra.” Sephiroth sounded like he was reciting information printed on a chart. “Proficient in sword-type weapons. Average attunement to magic. No noticeable disabilities to prevent field work. No real experience in battle.”

Sephiroth lifted his gaze to meet Cloud’s eyes. “On paper, he was just like every other cadet that came walking through the gates. From the records, his first year of training didn’t have any outstanding results.”

He set down his fork as if he was finally deciding to give their conversation his attention. “During his second year, he met Zack. Through Zack, he met me. After evaluations, he qualified to join SOLDIER and within six months was promoted from 3rd Class to 2nd Class.”

Cloud held back a frown. Strife’s career in Shinra was better than his own. Not only did he make it into SOLDIER, he had a rank that was worth printing on paper and going on tough missions. In comparison, Cloud’s life amounted to little more than a footnote. He couldn’t help but feel bitter.

“What about the other cadets and soldiers around him? They didn’t have a problem with him?”

“Those in a position of power will always encounter envy and admiration in equal folds. Strife was no different when he was promoted. Someone his age and stature gave others plenty of reason to criticize the decision. His peers...”

“Felt wronged,” Cloud finished. “He was young, skinny, and came from some backwoods town in the mountains. It was unfair. He didn’t deserve it.”

There was a brief pause from Sephiroth. “Yes.”

Cloud bit back a scoff. He already had a feeling it would be that way, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth knowing that even if this other version of himself got to leave out his dream, the sting of criticism still bit at his heels. Cloud knew his own flaws and the little things that made him feel insecure. It wasn’t something to be proud of, but at least he could say he wasn’t ignorant.

Still, he had to question: was that enough to cause Strife to betray humanity?

Mere gossip couldn’t have been the reason. Cloud, at least, wouldn’t have allowed that to deter him if he had been in Strife’s position.

“Then why?” he muttered.

“He lost trust in people,” Sephiroth responded, as if he knew Cloud’s thoughts.

A silence fell between them.

It was hard to grasp; Strife had betrayed humanity because he couldn’t trust them anymore? Why? Cloud tried to wrap his head around it, but it didn’t make sense to him. Even at his angriest, Cloud never thought to abandon humanity or wish destruction upon the planet. For all the bitterness, envy, and hate that he had experienced throughout the years, none of it was enough to drive him to pursue such a destructive conclusion.

Somehow, he felt that the answers were in Strife’s history. Maybe the first year he was in Shinra, or even further back. Maybe his childhood? Jenova’s words pricked Cloud’s mind. They killed her.

Killed who?

Jenova spoke in circles whenever she invaded his mind, but there had to be a reason behind her choice of words. Something happened that made Strife turn his back on humanity and welcome Jenova’s embrace.

Cloud wished he could find that connecting thread, but just because he wished for it didn’t mean it would automatically fall in his lap. If anything, he almost teased a dangerous thought that he didn’t want to linger on.

No. He couldn’t go ask her for the answers.

He had to make do with safer options. He had other people around him.

“You...” Cloud hesitated. “Do you know anything about his past?”

Sephiroth quietly looked at him. “Am I the correct person to ask that?”

The question caught Cloud off guard. He closed his mouth and pressed his lips together with a feeling of uncertainty.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand, but somewhere in the back of his mind he had hoped that he could get the answers he needed from the other man.

However, Sephiroth wasn’t the correct person. The one he needed to talk to was someone who wanted nothing to do with him.

Gaze flicking to the side, he quietly replied, “It’s impossible.”

A response didn’t come.

Cloud’s gaze was rooted on an empty spot on the wall as he struggled to settle his emotions. Speaking with Sephiroth was no doubt a challenge – especially when there still lingered an instinct to draw his sword against the other man – but somehow they were both sitting in the same space, eating and talking.

In comparison, Cloud knew that the conversation he needed to have with Tifa would be twice as difficult. Maybe even ten times.

There was the sound of a food container being closed, followed by the faint scrape of a chair being pushed back. Cloud turned his head to see Sephiroth standing up and walking toward him.

The shrinking distance between them made Cloud tense, and he fought the urge to jump to his feet. He watched the other man’s movements until only the small table remained between them. If either of them chose, they could launch across it and strike.

Sephiroth’s hand lightly took the chair that was opposite Cloud and pulled it out. He sat down, and despite how long his legs were and how easily they could reach across to Cloud’s side if he stretched them out, even under the table a short distance remained between them as Sephiroth sat properly.

“That’s your decision,” Sephiroth said shortly.

It sounded like a dismissal, as if Sephiroth was saying he wouldn’t help or interfere. Cloud didn’t know how he felt about that and frowned.

He long since abandoned his food and closed the to-go container, pushing it aside. Drawing in a breath, Cloud leaned back a bit against the chair. He didn’t like being this close to Sephiroth, but he wasn’t childish enough to push his seat back.

“Jenova.”

Sephiroth spoke first. Cloud kept his gaze on him as he continued.

“How often does she speak to you?”

So they were going to change to this topic...

Cloud shook his head. “This is the first time since we left Junon.”

“What does she tell you?”

“Mostly, she says she’s the only one who loves me and everyone else hates me.” The hate part wasn’t a stretch, but the love was highly rejected. Cloud thought back to what Jenova kept telling him. “Like she’s trying to fill some familial role...”

“A mother.”

He nodded. It was the same role that she took when Sephiroth from his world fell into insanity. Mother. That was what Sephiroth would refer to her as. Mother this, Mother that, everything was related to ‘Mother.’

“The three that Vincent is tailing,” Sephiroth continued, “are likely your siblings.”

Cloud glared.

Before he could protest, Sephiroth lifted his hand slightly. “It doesn’t matter if you and Strife are different. Jenova has adopted you and created them. You will be seen as siblings regardless the truth.”

Cloud swallowed down his retort. “...If they act like the three from my world, then they will want a ‘Reunion.’ They’ll come for me.”

It wasn’t even a question. Whatever their intentions, in the end they would come looking for Cloud.

“No matter where we put you, you’ll be a threat.” Sephiroth’s words stung. “We need to know what you experienced when you encountered my other self’s siblings. Any information will help us form a preventative action plan if yours do something similar.”

“I don’t know much about them. I... wasn’t in a place to do any research on them.”

To be more accurate, it was his mental state that was the problem. Even now he felt he wasn’t quite stable yet; being yanked into another world and surrounded by people who hated him was jarring and made him uneasy. Nevermind wanting to save, he was walking a tight rope just to survive. Cloud didn’t want to say that out loud, least of all to Sephiroth.

“They were obsessed about retrieving a piece of Jenova’s body. Somehow it remained after we had killed her. Shinra took it,” he couldn’t help but scoff. He was still on rocky terms with Rufus and his dogs.

Cloud gave a vague wave of his hand as he added, “It felt like they wanted to bring back you. Sephiroth.” It felt awkward to talk about the man as a separate person from who sat in front of him. “They managed to recreate his form briefly.”

Sephiroth’s brows furrowed slightly. “They brought him back?”

“It was more like a shadow of him.” Cloud recalled the fight he had, brows knitting. “Sephiroth hasn’t been human for a long time. The one they brought back looked just like from the Nibelheim mission.”

If the Sephiroth that Cloud had fought truly was him, then his god-like form would’ve been more appropriate. But what Kadaj had called forth was nothing more than envy and resentment in physical form.

Cloud remembered the words he had spat at Kadaj. They were ironic, calling him nothing more than a puppet on a string when he, too, had experienced the same degradation.

Sephiroth studied him during the lapse of silence.

“These Strife lookalikes could aim for the same result,” he mused.

Cloud shrugged in return. “Maybe. The question is how. Does Shinra have a piece of Jenova hidden somewhere?”

Displeasure sparked in Sephiroth’s gaze at the question before it faded. “No.”

The furrow between Cloud’s brows deepened. Without Jenova, then he wasn’t sure what the alternative plan would be. If he thought about it some more, he wondered if it would even be necessary, since he was here.

Digging through different options, a key detail that had eluded him until this point suddenly popped up. It surprised him that he hadn’t thought of it sooner.

Meeting those sharp green eyes, Cloud asked, “Has anyone suffered from an unusual disease lately?”

“Elaborate.”

“We had Geostigma. It was a plague that spread over the world and made people sick. Some would die quickly, but there were many more that didn’t. They would suffer for weeks.”

Cloud distinctly remembered the pain he felt when it finally crept up on him, spreading over his arm. He’d barely gotten rid of it, so the memory was fresh.

“It was easy to tell who had it. They would have physical marks on their body.”

Sephiroth’s brows drew together slightly as he seemed to sort through what information he had about the general population. Cloud had no idea if a pandemic like Geostigma existed here; since no one spoke about it, it completely slipped his mind. The other things going on around him and to him demanded his attention already.

Eventually, Sephiroth shook his head. “No. There hasn’t been signs or reports of anything like that appearing. Is it related to Jenova?”

“It was a sign she was in the Lifestream. She was corrupting it, and any who came into contact were afflicted. It was different for each person how badly they were affected, but there were always visible signs.”

The back of Cloud’s arm itched just thinking about it. He remembered spending day after day researching it, trying to find some remedy for Denzel who had the worst of it centered around his head. The materials were scattered, and findings were sparse even among those with professional knowledge in the pathological field.

Cloud’s desk had been littered with notes and books of past diseases that might help them. It wasn’t his field of expertise by any means, and half of the jargon he struggled with, but that didn’t stop him. Denzel, other kids like Denzel, and adults alike were constantly in pain and could do nothing about it.

Maybe. Just maybe, he could’ve found at least something.

That was his desperate wish whenever he bent over his desk. Even if it was nothing more than an analgesic, it was better than nothing.

If only he hadn’t...

A lingering regret swelled in his throat. Cloud tried to swallow it down; he didn’t want to think about it right now. He needed to focus.

Feeling eyes on him, Cloud caught Sephiroth staring at him. There wasn’t so much as a twitch in his expression, leaving Cloud in the dark about the other man’s thoughts.

Roughly clearing his throat, he shrugged and pushed down the unpleasant emotion that had started to form in his chest. He didn’t want Sephiroth to see him shrinking in his own seat, caught up in the past.

He was quiet for a moment. He debated over his next words.

Before anything could be said, Sephiroth broke the silence.

“Cloud.”

The sound of his name on the other man’s lips made Cloud’s chest feel tight. Was this the first time he was hearing this man speak his name?

Cloud had heard Sephiroth call out to him numerous times before, but there was a distinct difference between the man that Cloud knew, and the one sitting in front of him. There wasn’t a hint of condescension, nor the amused purr of a beast who had fun toying with prey. It was simply his name spoken in a neutral tone.

“You have a lot of enemies.”

Cloud almost interrupted but managed to hold himself back.

“The longer this goes on, the more dangerous it becomes. If what happened in your world also happens here, many lives will be in danger. Maybe more than what you experienced.” Sephiroth met his gaze and held it. “I need to know that you won’t be swayed.”

A furrow formed between Cloud’s brows. “I won’t.”

But despite the response, Sephiroth didn’t look convinced. “Can you guarantee that Jenova won’t take hold of your mind?”

Annoyance sparked in Cloud’s expression. He leaned in. “She won’t have me.”

Sephiroth looked at him before suddenly reaching out and snatching Cloud’s wrist.

The action made Cloud jerk back instinctively, alarmed, but Sephiroth didn’t let him go. His eyes widened before narrowing, his mind on high alert for any sense of an incoming attack.

Sephiroth did no such thing, though when Cloud tried to pull back again, his grip tightened. He leaned in, ignoring the way Cloud’s shoulders tensed.

“Anyone can see you are struggling to keep her at bay.” His voice was low as he spoke. “I had to shake you out of it both times she spoke to you. If I had not found you in the simulator, something could’ve happened. I’ll ask you again. Can you guarantee you will maintain your sanity?”

Cloud’s gaze wavered slightly, but he met Sephiroth’s eyes as they bore into him. “Y...”

The word wouldn’t form.

In truth, he didn’t have the confidence to say yes. Even if he refused her, he couldn’t make her go away. For some reason, she persisted even when he tried to push her out of his mind. He couldn’t understand it.

Then... Why could Sephiroth?

The question suddenly popped into his head, making him freeze. Cloud couldn’t get Jenova to shut up and leave him alone, but somehow Sephiroth could. He had grabbed Cloud and somehow silenced her voice, bringing him back to reality.

Cloud remained silent as he struggled to wrap his head around that realization.

Sephiroth quietly looked at him before softening his grip slightly.

“Come to me.” When Cloud focused on him, Sephiroth continued. “When you feel her, come to me.”

“We’re never in the same place. How am I supposed to do that?”

Sephiroth slowly let him go. Cloud didn’t yank his arm back when he did, only set it down slowly on the table as he remained tense in his uncertainty. He had every desire to shove his chair back and get up.

“Stay.”

Sephiroth slowly got up and went back to his desk. Cloud watched as he pulled out something from one of the drawers and walked back to him. When he reached out his hand, palm down as if to pass something over, Cloud hesitated before slowly standing up.

He didn’t like remaining in his chair while Sephiroth stood over him, even if he didn’t mean to kill him. Carefully holding out his hand, Cloud felt something be placed in his palm.

He looked down to see it was a bangle. It almost looked like a regular bangle for field use, except it was missing slots for materia and felt a bit lighter than he expected. It was almost... delicate? Like it belonged in a store instead of a soldier’s inventory, least of all inside Sephiroth’s desk.

“What...?” He frowned and looked back up at Sephiroth.

“Wear it. The distance isn’t infinite, but if you break it, I’ll know right away where you are. We’ll agree it’s either a sign you need help, or you betrayed us.”

Cloud scowled. “I won’t betray—”

“I didn’t say it would be voluntary,” Sephiroth cut him off. “Jenova could convince you to get rid of it. Regardless, once you put it on, it can’t come off except through special means. Normal impact won’t break it, but you would be able to.”

Cloud’s expression softened a bit, though it still showed his annoyance. “And what if I don’t want to put it on?”

“Consider it your leash. Without it, you’ll be kept locked up, either with Zack or me. You’re not safe with anyone else.” Sephiroth’s eyes narrowed slightly. “If you want the freedom to move around, even within the city, then you have to wear it.”

Indignation surged through Cloud at Sephiroth’s words. A leash?! Was he some dog that needed to be kenneled?

The corners of his lips curled bitterly. “Is this your way of being considerate?”

Cloud expected Sephiroth to dismiss him and remark on his attitude, but the other man only furrowed his brows slightly.

They looked at each other for a long moment. Cloud wanted to snap at Sephiroth. It seemed that regardless of what world he was from, enemy or not, Sephiroth’s choice of words still made him angry.

Letting out a silent breath, Cloud forced himself to calm down. He looked back down at the bangle. If he saw past the offensive comment, he knew why Sephiroth was giving this to him. Rather than call it a leash, it was insurance. And frankly... it really was Sephiroth being considerate.

The thought pricked at Cloud’s ire even though he knew this. Much as he didn’t like swallowing it down, it was clear that anything with Sephiroth’s name on it would either favor or hinder his decisions. If he wanted to move about freely, this bangle would be proof that he had permission.

Leash, insurance, it didn’t matter what it was called. It still pissed him off.

“Fine.”

Cloud put the bangle around his wrist and felt it latch. Even though the design was a bit more on the subtle side, in his mind it looked like a shackle.

Sephiroth reached out and took his wrist in hand. His grip was light in comparison to before. Cloud glanced up at him before looking down again as a faint glow surrounded the bangle. It was magic, but he’d never seen it before. Sephiroth wasn’t using materia either.

He frowned. “What is that?”

“Your—” Sephiroth stopped himself, as if he was reconsidering what he was about to say. “As I said, if you break it, I’ll know.”

Sephiroth let go once the glow subsided and looked at him. “Keep it visible. You won’t be able to go anywhere without someone with you, but you’ll find less resistance now.”

Of course...

Cloud figured he wouldn’t be given complete freedom, but at least he would be in a better position than before. Being holed up at Zack’s place was bound to drive him crazy, especially now that he knew those Strife lookalikes were around.

A soft sigh caught his attention. Raising his eyes, Cloud was surprised at the expression he saw on Sephiroth’s face. It was hard to describe, like a cross between remorse and... something else? Cloud didn’t know what it was, but it unsettled him to see it present on the other man’s face.

That look didn’t last long either; Sephiroth’s expression returned to normal as if it never happened.

“Whether you trust me or not, come to me if you feel her. If you can’t, break that bangle.” Green eyes bore into him, holding him hostage. It should’ve felt uncomfortable, yet the way Sephiroth looked at him conveyed a promise. “No matter what. I will come find you. I won’t let her have you.”

#{ rose gold }

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