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Final Fantasy VII: Angelic Threnody	By : DarkSeraphim1 Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1315 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core, Before Crisis, or Dirge of Cerberus. I do not profit from the writing and/or posting of this fic. I am just a humble fan paying tribute to another's wonderful creations.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Chapter Ten
            ’Ripples form on the water's surface. The wandering soul knows no rest.’ -Loveless, ACT I
            Sephiroth signed his name to yet another dull report and set it aside, immediately reaching for another. He read it just as quickly as the two-hundred-and-fiftieth report which had preceded it, and once again signed his name to it. Eleven had come and gone, and Strife had yet to make an appearance. He wasn’t exactly surprised by the boy’s reluctance to face him, but he had honestly thought that Strife was made of sterner stuff than that. Apparently, he had been wrong.
            It was nearly noon and Genesis would be arriving soon to meet him for lunch. As much as he needed Strife’s assistance, he wasn’t going to shunt his lover aside to obtain it. While he preferred to be discreet, he would have Cloud yanked unceremoniously out of class if that was what it took to get his attention. He was nothing if not ruthless and Cloud Strife would be a fool to forget that.
            Sephiroth heard the quiet tread of light footsteps and immediately straightened in his seat. He knew that it wasn’t Genesis who approached, for the heels of the man’s boots tended to make a much louder noise against the tiled floor. Nor was it Angeal, whose more muscled frame caused the floor to quake slightly as he passed. He didn’t even consider that it might be Zack. The boy had never come to his office without Angeal, and Sephiroth highly doubted that he would walk with such quiet assurance. Nothing about Zack Fair was quiet.
            He waited with barely concealed impatience as those steps paused just outside of his door. Without ceremony, the door to his office was flung open, and Cloud’s diminutive, nearly petite frame was revealed rather dramatically. He was wearing the black outfit--eerily similar to the First Class uniform he had escaped Nibelheim in--a half-cloak draped over his left arm and side. A silver wolf’s head snarled at him from the youth’s left shoulder, pinning the cloak in place, while warning of its owner’s hidden strength.
            The deceptively young-looking man gazed at him in silence, one hand resting on his sword’s main blade. He neither advanced nor retreated, and Sephiroth took matters into his own hands. “Come in,” he said in a calm voice which revealed none of his own ambivalence. “Please, have a seat.”
            Cloud continued to gaze at him, those glowing mako eyes narrowing slightly, as he stepped over the threshold. Reluctance colored his every movement, and Sephiroth noticed that he was careful to leave the door at least partially open. The boy obviously didn’t trust him, and Sephiroth truly couldn’t blame him. After all he had been through, just coming here must have taken a great deal of courage.
            The young man ignored the proffered seat, choosing instead to stand beside it. “What do you want?”
            The boy’s voice was flat, inflectionless, matching the emotionless mask which shaped his heart-shaped face, and Sephiroth carefully set down his pen. “I thought we should talk,” he said at last, his own emerald eyes veiled as he clasped his hands before him.
            Cloud looked away briefly. “What could you possibly have to say to me, Sephiroth?”
            “A great many things, Cloud.” Sephiroth tilted his head to the left, studying Gaia’s former protector closely. “I’m sorry, to begin with.”
            The younger man snorted quietly, those clear blue eyes with their slight ring of mako-green around the pupils meeting his once again. “And I’m supposed to believe you?” he asked with heavy disbelief. “’Sorry’ doesn’t even begin to cover what you did to me.”
            Sephiroth sighed at that. “I am not the same man you once pursued, Cloud.”
            “No?” Cloud took a step towards the desk, his hand tightening on First Tsurugi as he fought the urge to strike. “What about Nibelheim? Aren’t you the same man who killed my mother, burned my hometown to the ground, and sentenced Zack and I to four years in mako hell?”
            This time, it was Sephiroth who looked away. “I am in control, now,” was all he could say in response.
            “Sure you are.” Cloud shook his head, his distrust plain. “I don’t know how you survived the end of the world, and I don’t really care. As far as I’m concerned, you could drop dead right now, and I’d dance on your damned grave. You took everyone I ever loved away from me, and you mocked me while you did it. They were good people, Sephiroth, decent people, and they’re all dead because of you.”
            Sephiroth stiffened slightly, a defensive response he couldn’t control. “I assume you are referring to Zack and the Ancient,“ he said in a low, guilt-laden voice.
            “Aerith, Zack, my mother, Kadaj--”
            The boy’s voice broke on that last name and he turned away to hide his pain. “All he wanted was to be loved, and you used him to bring yourself back to life. You killed him just as surely as if you’d run him through, too,” he whispered raggedly. “You and your godsdamned mother!”
            Sephiroth looked down at his pale white hands as memories of the remnants’ failed Reunion returned to him. Kadaj had been so desperate to please his ’mother’, certain that she would love him if he just did as she commanded. His brothers had done everything they could to help, sacrificing any chance they might have had at a normal life, to make their beloved baby whole. In the end, Jenova had betrayed them all, delivering them into death’s cold embrace as punishment for their failure to please her.
            And Cloud Strife would never believe that. There was nothing he could say that would convince the boy that it had been Jenova controlling events all along. “It will not happen again,” Sephiroth murmured as he raised his gaze once more. “Jenova is no longer a factor in my life.”
            Cloud whirled around, his hand leaving his sword to point at him accusingly. “I felt her today, Sephiroth. I know that she’s still active--in both of us.”
            Sephiroth nodded once in acknowledgement, silver hair falling into his face. “I felt her, as well,” he admitted, tucking his hair back behind his ear in an automatic gesture. “I was able to close my mind to her rather easily. Her hold on me is all but gone now, Cloud.”
            “But it’s still there.”
            He paused before releasing a clipped, “Yes.”
            Cloud’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. “I won’t go through that again, Sephiroth. I don’t care if you’re sane or not. I’ll kill you before I let Nibelheim happen, again.”
            “I would prefer death to a repeat of that,” Sephiroth replied honestly. At the young man’s look of surprise, he smiled humorlessly and explained, “I lost the only person who cared about me that day, Cloud. I lost him because I wasn’t strong enough to deal with my own pain. I would rather die at your hands a fourth time than allow that to happen again.”
            Cloud’s teeth clenched at the haunted sincerity in the too-deep voice of the man he once held in the highest esteem. “Why?” he asked at last, unable to mask his pain any longer. “Why did you listen to her? Why did you turn on Zack like that? After Angeal died, you were all that he had. He loved you like a brother, Sephiroth, and you killed him.”
            “I know.” Sephiroth drew a deep breath, trying to steady his own unruly emotions as the memories rose up to torment him. Zack demanding an explanation for the destruction of Nibelheim and its inhabitants, Zack struggling to defend himself as his hero--his friend--called him a traitor and released twenty-five years of suppressed rage at his expense. Cutting down the only friend he had left, watching him fly through the air, droplets of blood from the wound in his chest spraying the floor between them, until he landed with a sickening thud on the reactor steps.
            He had watched with dispassionate eyes, feeling nothing but anger and resentment for Zack and his ancestor’s, blaming the boy for his mother’s unjust imprisonment. As Zack had looked at him with pleading eyes, pain robbing him of the ability to speak, Sephiroth had turned away. Mother’s voice had rung through his head, begging for release, offering him the love that had always been denied him. He had turned his back on the young boy he had sworn to protect, leaving him to die as he had turned towards an uncertain future with the mother he had always yearned for.
            Yes, Sephiroth acknowledged silently, he had killed Zack. While he hadn’t been the one to take Zack’s life, his actions had led to his friend’s death. It had been his fault, all of it, and he truly had no excuse for his actions.
            “I lost someone who meant a great deal to me,” he murmured tautly, knowing that even the truth couldn’t absolve him of his culpability. “I was unable to deal with my grief and it affected my emotional state. Jenova took advantage of that vulnerability and I was not able to fight her. I am still not sure how she managed to overwhelm me so completely, but she did. Now all I can do is remember and attempt to change the fates of those I once betrayed.”
            Cloud remained silent for a long moment. “Aerith sent you back, didn’t she?” he asked at length.
            “Yes.” Sephiroth frowned as he recalled the short dialogue that he and the Ancient had exchanged. “She said that I had earned the right to enter the Lifestream, that what I wanted mattered, and then she sent me here.”
            He shook his head slightly, as though to clear it. “I believe she sent me back to correct the mistakes of the past. Cloud, I am going to save us all, but I cannot do it alone. I--” he faltered for a moment before pressing on, “I need your help.”
            Cloud just stared at him in shock, unable to believe that these awkwardly selfless words were coming from the despised One-Winged Angel. Sephiroth looked uncomfortable but determined and Cloud realized that he was serious. He honestly wanted to make things better, when all he had ever done was destroy the lives of those around him.
            “Do you realize just how much is at stake here?” he threw out sharply. Sephiroth opened his mouth to respond and he cut him off. “Have you ever really cared about anyone other than yourself? Do you even understand what it is to love another person enough to put their welfare before your own?”
            Sephiroth felt his own ire rise as he snapped, “I know more than you think.” He drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm. “You have every right to speak to me this way,” he continued in a milder tone, “but you do not truly know me, Cloud. You never did.”
            “Not know you?!” Cloud sputtered incredulously. “I watched you burn my village to the ground. I saw what you did Zack and Tifa. I watched as you killed Aerith. I saw the life leave her eyes as Masamune pierced her chest, and all you did was smile and pull that godsdamned sword out of her! Make no mistake, Sephiroth, I know you.”
            “What you saw of me was Jenova,” Sephiroth responded coolly. “It was she who killed the Ancient, she who controlled me that night in Nibelheim. It was she who manipulated Kadaj into ingesting her cells. She used me as she used all of the others and I could do nothing to stop her. All I could do was wait for her to tire and occasionally assert my will over her own. I did everything I could to warn you, Cloud. That’s why I sent you that dream of the Forgotten Forest. I didn’t want the girl to die; I needed her to lead me to him. Mother is the one responsible for all the rest.”
            “Him?” Cloud released First Tsurugi and crossed his arms over his chest, his expression showing his suspicion. “Who’s ‘him’?”
            Sephiroth hesitated before replying, “My. . .lover,” in a reluctant voice.
            “You let Jenova use you so that you could find your fucking boyfriend?” Cloud yelled, no longer caring if he attracted attention or not in his frustration. “Who the hell do you think you are? You nearly destroyed the world--twice. Who was so damned important to you that you would risk destroying The Planet just to find him?”
            Sephiroth fell silent, struggling with the urge to unburden himself, knowing that Strife was the last person he could trust with this. While he had no doubt that the boy would understand, he didn’t know if he could reveal that much of himself to someone who considered him an enemy. It would be exposing a weakness that had already been exploited until he had been all but destroyed by it.
            And yet, he needed Strife’s help. He didn’t have enough time to change things on his own. He needed an ally, and he needed one now. Less than six months remained until Genesis would be sent to Wutai, and he had to find a way to change future events before then.
            “Does it matter?” he asked at length, desperate to secure Cloud’s aid, but afraid to reveal Genesis’ identity. Strife might not be a unforgiving person by nature, but after all that had been done to him, the temptation to seek vengeance might prove too great for him to ignore, and Sephiroth couldn’t take that kind of chance with Genesis’ life. The proud, flamboyant First would never survive a battle with Cloud Strife. “Things have already begun to change. He and I are closer than we have ever been. There is no longer any discord between us. If I can prevent the incident itself, all will be made right. He won’t leave me, I won’t break, and Nibelheim will never occur--”
            “Stop.” Cloud held up one hand as he thought over everything that had been said. If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought that Sephiroth had sounded, well, scared. “Start with the incident. What happened to trigger,” he made an all encompassing gesture with one gloved hand, “everything?”
            Sephiroth gazed at him for a long, tense moment. “In four months, he will be injured in the company training room. That will be the event that sets it all in motion.”
            Cloud frowned at the very careful, deliberately vague description. “Why?”
            “I cannot reveal that,” Sephiroth said in a flat voice.
            Bright blue eyes, powered by mako, narrowed angrily on his. “Then, I’m leaving.”
            The boy turned on his heel to go, and Sephiroth cursed under his breath. “Wait,” he called out, angry that he had been outmaneuvered so easily. Strife turned towards him, his expression expectant, and Sephiroth could only grind his teeth in defeat. “Suffice it to say that once he is injured, he will discover certain truths about himself that will render him,” insane, “unstable.”
            Cloud walked back towards the desk, realizing that Sephiroth was trying to protect his lover by keeping his identity hidden. He let out a harsh breath and said, “I guess, I was wrong about you, Sephiroth.”
            The silver-haired warrior raised both eyebrows in a surprised expression. “How so?” he questioned warily.
            “You are capable of loving someone enough to put their welfare before your own.”
            Sephiroth looked away as he realized that he had revealed far too much of himself during the course of this little tête-à-tête. Cloud knew his weakness, now. If he truly wanted to hurt him, he had only to uncover Genesis’ identity and take his revenge. Sephiroth wouldn’t survive Genesis’ death unscathed. Instead of Nibelheim, it would be Midgar that burned this time, and he knew himself well enough to know that no one would survive his rage.
            “What did you have in mind?” Sephiroth blinked and refocused on the other man, who was watching him with a barely perceptible smile. “You have some kind of plan, right?”
            He nodded slowly, silver-green eyes glowing with sudden determination. “I intend to break into Hojo’s private files,” he said, setting both elbows on the desk and leaning forward. “I believe he has the answers I am looking for there. I also intend to search for Kadaj and his brothers, as well as--”
            “You’re going to find Kadaj?” Cloud broke in, his big blue eyes widening with a hope he couldn’t hide.
            “Yes,” Sephiroth answered with a faint smile. “I cannot leave the boys to Hojo. I know what they are going through, and I refuse to abandon them. They deserve a chance at life, and I am going to give it to them.”
            The younger man closed his eyes briefly to hide the sudden moisture in them. “What else?” he questioned in a thick voice.
            “Vincent Valentine.” Sephiroth watched without surprise as those eyes popped open, suspicion lurking in their glowing depths, as he added, “I would very much like to meet my father.”
            “You knew?” At the older man’s nod, Cloud asked, “How long?”
            “How long have I known that Valentine was my biological father, and not Hojo?”
            “Yeah,” Cloud said, resisting the urge to scowl at the unnecessary clarification. “Did you know in Nibelheim?”
            “No,” Sephiroth answered with a sigh. It always came back to that. “While I was not accepted into the Lifestream, I was given glimpses of the world from time to time. I saw a conversation between you and he in Kalm, just before Omega began to rise. I learned the truth then.”
            Cloud blushed hard and looked away. “You, uh, saw all that?” he asked embarrassedly.
            Sephiroth smiled faintly at the memory of Cloud and his nearly naked father in a rather intimate setting. “I saw enough to know that you were. . .close,” he answered with a shrug. “Someday, I would like to know why he felt guilty for killing me when I so obviously deserved it. For now, however, I would merely like to know where to find him.”
            The younger man murmured something that Sephiroth, even with his enhanced hearing, couldn’t decipher. He merely waited, knowing that the other man would speak when he was ready. Cloud finally sighed, the sound deep and heavy, and said, “Nibelheim.”
            “Nibelheim?” Sephiroth’s gaze sharpened on his, green eyes narrowing almost imperceptively. He had spent a week in Nibelheim, and he had seen no one who bore even a superficial resemblance to Vincent Valentine. “Where in Nibelheim?”
            A sad, almost pitying look crossed the blond’s face as he answered. “Shinra Mansion.”
            Sephiroth’s deceptively lean body went still, his expression one of intense agony. “You mean,” he asked in a hoarse whisper, “that he was there all along?”
            Cloud winced even as he nodded his golden head. “Hojo locked him in a storage room just off of the main lab. That’s where we found him during. . . Meteorfall.”
            Meteorfall. The world echoed dimly through Sephiroth’s head, eclipsed by the knowledge that his father had been there, in reach if he had only known, that fateful night in Nibelheim. What would have happened if he had fought off the pain of Genesis’ betrayal just long enough to search the rest of the basement for more documents? Would his father have been able to anchor him to a world that he had no longer felt a part of? Or would Sephiroth have killed him, blind to the truth, seeing him as just another hated human?
            Cloud watched the play of emotions across the other man’s face with something akin to wonder. He had never seen his nemesis display any emotions other than madness, rage, and cruelty. Now, he was seeing a whole range of emotions that were undeniably human, even if their intensity surprised him. “You really do regret all you’ve done, don’t you?”
            Sephiroth plunged his hands into his hair, effectively hiding his face from the younger man. “You’ll never know how much,” he said in a low, ragged voice.
            “Sephiroth--”
            “No.”
            The Nightmare remained as he was for several minutes, his ragged breathing loud in the quiet room, before he pulled himself together. Even as Cloud watched, his pure features emptied of all emotion, those green eyes with the slit pupils becoming a blank slate which reflected only the world around him. It was a startling change to witness, and Cloud realized that Sephiroth had been right; he didn’t truly know him.
            “Would you still like to be trained as a SOLDIER?” he asked in an abrupt, necessary change of subject.
            Startled, Cloud could only stare at him. “Y-Yes,” he answered finally, his voice little more than a longing-filled whisper.
            Sephiroth nodded. He’d thought as much. “I considered training you myself, but I doubt either of us would be comfortable if I were to take on the task. Correct?“ At the boy’s hasty nod, he smiled slightly. “Zack is about to be promoted to First, and Angeal has requested that he be allowed to take on a student. Would you object to becoming that student?”
            “I--” Cloud swallowed hard as memories of Zack rushed through him. Zack ruffling his hair as he tried to duck away, Zack looking at him through a haze of mako green, begging him to hold on just a little longer. Zack, bleeding out on a bluff just outside of Midgar, giving him the Buster Sword and asking him to be his living legacy.
            “No,” he answered in a husky voice, “there’s nothing I’d like more.”
            “Then, I’ll speak to Angeal and arrange a meeting.” Sephiroth paused, tilting his to one side, seeing all the grief that the boy couldn’t hide. “You’ll have to pretend that you’re meeting him for the first time. Can you do that?”
            Cloud smiled through teary blue eyes. “Yeah, I can handle it.”
            “Good.” Sephiroth heard footsteps, the heavy yet hollow tread indicating that Genesis was about to make an appearance. By the way that Cloud’s head came up, he could tell that he had, too. “Just follow my lead,” he murmured in a voice so low that Cloud could barely hear him, even with his enhanced hearing.
            “Am I interrupting anything?”
            Cloud half-turned, his blank mask firmly in place, as a tall man in red and black leather pushed the door open. Cloud felt a brief stirring in his mind, a flash of black feathers and crimson steel, and then it was gone. Whether it had been part of his own fragmented memories or those he had stolen from a dying Zack he couldn’t tell, and he pushed them aside as he focused on the man who had once wrought so much destruction, only to fall to Zack‘s sword.
            Genesis Rhapsodos.
            The First held a bag of what smelled like Wutaian food as he strolled confidently into the room. Auburn hair fell around a handsome face in an expensive cut that was intended to look carelessly tousled, while light blue eyes, enhanced with mako, flicked over him dismissively before moving to the only other occupant in the room. Cloud watched with growing disbelief as Sephiroth’s expression changed, softened, as did the hard look in those silver-green eyes. Affection filled those mako-charged depths, and Cloud could only gape in wonder. This was who Sephiroth had been willing to sacrifice everything--even the world--for?!
            Genesis set the bag on the desk, smirking just a bit as he looked the boy over. “Interesting outfit,” he commented nonchalantly. “Wherever did you find this one, Sephiroth?”
            Sephiroth chuckled at that. “Genesis, I’d like you to meet Private Cloud Strife,” he said, and Cloud snapped his mouth shut before offering a hasty salute. “Private Strife, General Genesis Rhapsodos, my second-in-command.”
            A startled look crossed the Scarlet General’s face, though it was quickly replaced by the arrogance he was so well known for. “A pleasure,” Genesis murmured, although his tone was bland enough to be taken as an insult had Cloud been so inclined.
            “Sir!” Cloud held the salute for a few moments longer before a murmured ‘at ease’ from Sephiroth had him lowering his arm. He could only stand there uncertainly, his blue eyes flicking from one man to the other.
            “Cloud and I were just discussing his admittance into the mentor program,” Sephiroth said as he leaned back in his chair, his gaze catching and holding Cloud’s. “Isn’t that so, Cloud?”
            “Y-Yes, General,” Cloud stammered, his heart pounding so loudly that there was no way the two enhanced warriors could miss it. He was going to be with Zack, again!
            Genesis carefully pushed the plastic mail rack out of the way and sat on the edge of the desk. “With Zack?” he questioned, a small, fond smile lighting his too-pretty features.
            “Yes,” Sephiroth replied, his eyes meeting those of the older man’s once more, “as soon as I clear it with Angeal, of course.”
            The other First laughed at that, his own expression softening just enough to show that he was a little too fond of his commanding officer. “To think, our puppy is going to have a puppy of his own. Will wonders never cease?”
            Sephiroth returned his smile freely. “It will be interesting to see how Zachary handles being the teacher instead of the student.”
            Genesis snorted. “I imagine he will be very much the bad influence on this poor cadet here,” he returned lightly, only half-joking.
            “Of that, Genesis, I have no doubt.”
            Cloud barely controlled the urge to roll his eyes as both men seemed to forget that he was there. He didn’t know Genesis—his memories of that time in his life were sketchy, at best—but he could tell that the arrogant SOLDIER had feelings for Sephiroth. Feelings that were very obviously returned. He had never seen his nemesis like this, smiling and laughing with genuine happiness, all because the other man had simply entered the room. But, he had a feeling that if he didn’t get out of here, he was going to overstay his welcome. Besides, he had to prepare himself for meeting Zack, and make sure that he didn’t fall apart when confronted with best friend who had died to save him.
            “Sir?” He waited until Sephiroth had focused on him to say, “I have a class in twenty minutes. May I be excused?”
            Sephiroth only nodded a bit absently and tore a piece of paper off of a stationary pad, scribbling a quick note on it. “You’ll have to be moved to more appropriate quarters once you are promoted to 2nd Class,” he said as he handed it over. “Take this to the dormitory superintendent and have him assign you a single room. Preferably, close to Lieutenant Fair’s, as he will need access to you once your training begins.”
            “And keep the sword,” he added, gesturing towards First Tsurugi, which Cloud realized that, as a cadet, he couldn’t possibly explain possessing. “I can think of no other who would do it the justice that you will.”
            Cloud had to fight a sudden, uncharacteristic urge to smile as he shoved the note into his pocket. Sephiroth had just essentially ordered him to move to a private room, quartered next to the man who had once been his only friend. He had also given him an explanation in case anyone asked after his one-of-a-kind, obviously expensive sword. He wouldn’t have to worry about being caught with it and having it confiscated, now. While it would probably draw more attention to him than he would have liked, he’d deal with that as it came. But for Sephiroth to do this for him, to put him in a position that could reflect badly on him if things failed to go well. . .If Cloud hadn’t known better, he’d think that Sephiroth actually respected him.
            He saluted both men enthusiastically, Genesis shaking his head as he looked away, before heading towards the door. “Oh, and Cloud?” He paused and half-turned, keeping his expression as neutral as he could. “I’ll go over your schedule and see if we can’t make it more compatible with Zack’s. Is that acceptable?”
            He allowed a small smile to curve his lips in response. “That is acceptable, sir.” He paused and added, “Thank you.”
            Sephiroth smiled, a faint smile that held none of the madness and cruelty he was so used to seeing. “You’re dismissed, cadet.”
            He strode from the room, realizing that--as twisted as the circumstances might be--he was going to see his childhood dream realized. He was going to be trained by Zack--officially, this time. He was going to be a SOLDIER!
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Final Fantasy VII: Angelic Threnody