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beware-of-soft-shoe-shufflers · 2 years

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Choices, Choices (Final Fantasy VII)

okay, so just to point some stuff out here, THIS IS NOT AT ALL CANON. i literally wrote this because i was looking at random fanart featuring the black materia and my brain decided i should write about a sort of “what if?” scenario with it. i know that in canon, Aerith does not have any real power over Cloud, but its a bit of a headcanon of mine. this is the first fanfiction i have written in a long time, so apologies if it is not the best. tell me what you think!

-Sebastian <3

Cloud could hardly even open his eyes. They were so heavy- it felt like they had been glued shut. For several minutes he lay there, struggling to even flutter his eyelashes. He could feel warmth around him, but he had no idea where he was, or how he had gotten there. Had he fallen into a lake? Or even an ocean? Perhaps he had had too many drinks in Costa Del Sol again, and had managed to fall off one of the piers. It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened. He distinctly remembered having one too many with Barret and Tifa one night. They were celebrating something- possibly one of their birthdays?

Cloud couldn’t recall in the moment. All he could feel was the warmth of whatever engulfed him. Now that he spent more time dwelling on it, it didn’t feel quite like water. It was warm and flowing, yes, but not exactly the same. It felt different. More ethereal, not quite physical or of the earth. But, it clearly was of the earth, for Cloud was floating in it, although not at the surface. He found he could still breathe fairly comfortably, although it was a bit difficult. His body felt tired and a bit sore, but he could still move.

After a while, an impossible amount of time to measure, Cloud heard a voice. It was soft, at first, and he could not make out what it was saying, but it was a bit melodic in its way of speaking. As if its purpose was to hypnotize. Cloud let out a tiny groan from his throat, feeling pressure there as he slowly finally began to open his eyes, tired as they were.

He saw that he was, in fact, not in a body of water at all. But instead, he found himself engulfed in the green light of the Lifestream. He looked around, slowly starting to force himself up from his lying position, although it was difficult with the constant flow of the Lifestream. He looked around for the source of the voice that was now much clearer in his head. It was calling his name, & he now knew exactly who it belonged to.

It was Sephiroth.

Or at least, it sounded like Sephiroth. Cloud couldn’t see the tall silver-haired man anywhere. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, his muscles tensing in alarm as he searched with his eyes everywhere he could. But the Lifestream was endless, and Sephiroth’s voice sounded muffled, as if he were suppressed by something. Perhaps he was suppressed by the Lifestream itself. Cloud was not sure either way, but it hardly eased his anxiety.

“Cloud…”

“Cloud…I know that you can hear me…”

“Cloud.”

“Cloud. Listen to me.”

“Cloud…”

Sephiroth’s voice kept repeating his name, and it quickly became clearer. While this did not startle Cloud, it certainly increased his anxiety. Would he have to fight Sephiroth in the Lifestream itself? He certainly hoped not. He was almost too tired to stand properly right now.

“I know you have it, Cloud…”

Then, as if mistifying from nothing, and perhaps he did, Sephiroth stood before him, although at a bit of a distance. Cloud could tell it wasn’t his physical body, but he still looked the same as he always did, just a bit less worldy. His hair flowed behind him quite gracefully, as if there was a breeze, and perhaps this was because of the Lifestream’s constant flow. He smirked when he saw Cloud, smug as he ever was. Cloud hated that smirk, he would rip it off of his face if he could.

Instinctively, he reached behind him for the buster sword. But, to his surprise, the large blade was nowhere to be found. His expression must have shown this, for Sephiroth chuckled.

“Silly boy…there are no physical weapons in the Lifestream. Mere worldy weapons cannot manifest here as our spirits do.” Sephiroth explained to the younger man, his cat-like slits thinning even further. “Perhaps you would know that if you spent any time here, as I have.” He added somewhat snarkily.

“You only spend so much time here because I always defeat you.” Cloud retorted, his baby blue eyes narrowing at the silver-haired man.

“Yes, but I am forever a part of this planet, you, are not.” Sephiroth said, raising his eyebrows slightly. “Now then. You have something that belongs to me. I’d like it back now.” Sephiroth said, his voice becoming more threatening as he spoke the last sentence. Cloud could feel a strange impulse seize his mind, and he felt an increasingly intense need to move toward Sephiroth. He had felt this before, but never this intensely. Perhaps the Lifestream provided Sephiroth with more power while he was within it.

As they both floated through the endless green light, Cloud found himself slowly drifting himself toward Sephiroth, his body relaxing itself under Sephiroth’s influence. He always felt so strange like this- under the ex-SOLDIER’s influence. He felt sleepy, sleepier than before, as if in a deep, deep dream. A deeper dream than even the Lifestream felt like. He met Sephiroth’s eyes as he drifted ever closer, and the silver-haired man had to fight back the large grin threatening to show on his face, deciding on his usual smirk instead.

“Yes. Good boy, Cloud. Give it to me, now.”

“What am I…giving?” Cloud asked, confused. He had nothing that belonged to Sephiroth, not that he remembered anyway.

“The black materia, Cloud. I want it now. I am waiting. Give it to me.” Sephiroth said, his voice like precious silk as he reached out his hand, patiently waiting.

Cloud furrowed his eyebrows at that. He didn’t have the black materia- not anymore. He had given it away a long time ago, at least, from what he recalled. “But I-...I don’t have that anymore. I gave it to you, remember?” He frowned.

“Oh, but that’s not true, Cloud. This is not the world you think it is.”

Cloud could do nothing but tilt his head slightly, eagerly listening to the man before him, all hatred and anger he felt for him melting away with his influence growing ever stronger.

“This, my Cloud, is another world entirely. A different world from the one you call home. You were brought here so that I might find you, and retrieve the black materia. This is your true purpose…to help me destroy this world, in every version of yourself. You have the black materia…you came into possession of it when you entered this version of the Lifestream.” Sephiroth explained, gesturing with his hand giving Cloud more encouragement to hand the powerful magic over. “I need it now, Cloud. Give it to me.”

Cloud stared up at Sephiroth’s surprisingly gentle expression, his eyes glazed over in Sephiroth’s influence. The spikey blonde suddenly remembered where he had put the materia, although he wasn’t sure if he had put it there, or if it had just appeared there. He reached into one of his pockets, which one, he couldn’t be sure of. He pulled out the materia, its surface blacker than a raven’s feathers. Slowly, he extended his arm, his hand mere inches from Sephiroth’s, and suddenly Sephiroth could not hide the grin on his face.

“Cloud! What do you think you’re doing?!”

A voice rang out through the Lifestream’s flow. It was much higher pitched than Sephiroth’s silky baritone, but it was not child-like. Cloud, suddenly pulled from Sephiroth’s grasp, turned his body to what he thought might be the voice’s direction. He was correct, for there, floating along in the Lifestream as they were, was Aerith. She still looked the same as she always had, complete with her long and soft-looking braid with the pink bows. Cloud’s eyes widened, and his lips parted as if to speak, now holding the black materia close to his chest. He tried to speak, to say her name, to tell her how sorry he was, but nothing could come out, for he felt another strong influence overtake him. This one was harsher in tone, but still soft underneath, a contrast to Sephiroth’s sickly sweet grasp.

Sephiroth let out a dissatisfied and annoyed huff of air, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Just what do you think you’re doing with my puppet, girl?” He spoke in an assertive tone. “I am the one who requires the black materia. Who are you to stop me?”

“Only the one who holds the other half of the most powerful magic in all of the world.” It was Aerith’s turn to smirk now, although hers had an overlaid, faux sweetness that Sephiroth’s lacked. “Cloud is not your puppet anymore, Sephiroth. Let him go.” She said, her voice borderline authoritarian, though it was still fairly soft.

“Cloud has always been my puppet, and he will continue to be as long as he exists.” Sephiroth replied, casting out his influence toward Cloud once again, this time even more suffocating than before. Cloud felt himself slipping underneath the lulling control of Sephiroth’s hold, but then he felt that oddly sharp, but still light tug come back even stronger, trying to ward off the seducing hold of Sephiroth. It was Aerith, Cloud only now realized. His body froze, unable to move toward either of them, despite the powerful influences they both had on him.

“Let him go, Sephiroth.” Aerith spoke coldly to the silver-haired man.

“You know I cannot do that, my dear. It would be so much easier for you to just hand him over, you know. There is no point in trying to fight me here, I grow stronger with every moment.” Sephiroth replied with a small, still rather smug smirk.

“And watch this version of the world fall to you? Never.” Aerith hissed, turning more bitter as she stared at the silver-haired man, both of them holding Cloud, but otherwise not paying him much mind.

They were equal in their power to hold him, Cloud realized quickly, glancing at both of them. His lips were parted as he soon found it more difficult to breathe, not that he really needed to within the Lifestream, but it helped him keep his head firm on his shoulders. Cloud’s chest tightened as they both extended themselves farther and farther onto him, neither being able to outmatch the other. It felt as though they were choking him out. He tried to will his body to move- to struggle- to do anything. But all he could do was stare, and grip the black materia within his palm. Soon, the two opposed forces turned their attention to Cloud.

“Cloud. Give me the black materia.”

“Cloud! Give it to me, we can still save this planet!”

“Listen to my voice, Cloud. Do as I say. Bring it to me.”

“Think of the planet! Think of your friends! They still exist in this world- aren’t they worth fighting for?”

“Do not listen to her, Cloud. They are not your friends, she is not your friend either. You are mine. You are bound to me as I am bound to mother. Nothing can change that. Not even her. Come here, give me the materia. Now.”

“Do not make this mistake, Cloud!”

Cloud.

Give it to me.

Give it to me, Cloud.

That is all the spikey-haired blonde could hear. Give it to me.

Suddenly, Cloud felt a brand new strength blossom within his chest. It went out from there to his legs, then travelled up to his belly, his ribs, his biceps, then up his arms. It travelled from there up his shoulders, to his neck, then finally up into his eyes, and his head. His brain found new will power, and he quickly used it to his advantage. He commanded his body to move, just as the other two commanded him to come to him. However, unlike their commands, his body obeyed this one. He gasped as his body suddenly thrashed about, struggling in his psychological restraints. He hissed, feeling as though intense gravity were keeping him stuck to a wall. He could free himself this way, he was sure of it.

He glanced up, nothing above him but an endless abyss of black, then, he glanced downward. He could not see the bottom of the Lifestream, and he was not sure that there was one, but his problem solving brain demanded he investigate.

Cloud extended his legs downward as far as they would go, straightening out his feet so that they pointed down, searching for some kind of floor- some type of bottom. He felt a sensation of something semi-solid below him, although he could not tell how solid it really was.

Aerith was the first to notice. “Cloud? What are you doing?” She asked, her voice softening from her harsh tone she had acquired. “Why are you-” She quickly realized what Cloud was doing, and she shook her head, holding out her hands. “No, Cloud- stop! What are you trying to do?” She gasped, her eyes widening slightly. Ethereal as she was, she was still, at her core, human, and unable to perceive things as a god could.

Sephiroth then noticed Cloud’s odd behavior, and tilted his head. “Oh, Cloud…do you really think you can escape? You silly boy…the Lifestream may be endless, but you can always be found.”

Cloud grunted at that, as if to say ‘as if’. Finding enough strength to move further, Cloud pushed down with his lower body, managing to force himself down hard enough to stop floating, and land his feet on the strange, semi-solid bottom of the Lifestream. It felt sort of like the sediment-covered bottom of a river, although even less solid than that, although he did not fall through.

Taking the black materia into both hands, he raised it over his head.

“Cloud-”

“No!”

Cloud heard nothing but muffled voices as he threw the materia down, breaking the magical orb into hundreds of pieces.

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