Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Ephemeral Existence ❯ 07: Alterations ( Chapter 7 )

Ephemeral Existence
A C/S Story

Warnings: YAOI, kinda AU
Disclaimer: I don't own. Phooey.

Chapter 07: Alterations

They were in the hallways again, taking long strides and leaving the lights to dim behind them. The tension between the two enemies (Were they really enemies now? Or did they privately settled a truce between them?) lessened dramatically, and Sephiroth was smiling. Then again, why wouldn't he be happy? He had Cloud by his side and his puppet was not rebelling against him at the moment.

It took them ten minutes to reach their destination and Sephiroth opened the silver door in front of him. Behind it was a long, vast space of black, sparkled with tints of the Lifestream (or what was left) and a distant ever swirling eddy of purple and white.

Cloud gasped, eyes widening in disbelief. “Center of the Planet.”

“Yes,” Sephiroth murmured, walking to the swirl of purple and white. This was supposed to be the place where they had fought; the invisible floor stayed as its name meant, as though blood hadn't been spilled on it in the first place. “I had it rebuilt because I have to construct my final projects here…” he trailed off, staring at his puppet thoughtfully, who lowered his head, seemingly lost in his ponderings.

He wondered what Cloud was thinking; he bet that it was the final battle again, and the loss of his friends. He had noticed in the past month, a dark look would always appear on his puppet's face the moment he mentioned anything related to his friends or the Planet. He wasn't intimidated by it, but it did make him question his puppet's abilities if he were to test Cloud's patience and such. It also made him aware of two emotions he wasn't supposed to feel:

Sympathy.

Guilt.

He wasn't exactly cold-hearted as others deemed of him; he was merely aloof and unorthodox. Zack knew that, even Cloud, who had managed to put up with him for a month.

He made his way over to a computer, Cloud following behind him. His fingers ran across the keyboard, setting up the programs and putting the necessary codes to get it started. Cloud was watching him silently, eyes distant and arms crossed. After a few moments of rebooting the main computer, he turned around and explained the situation to Cloud, “When I created the Promised Land with Zack, there was only one miscalculation that I overlooked, which resulted the destruction of the Planet…” he trailed off, pausing for a moment.

Cloud glowing sapphire eyes flared to life, and he whispered, “What was it? Was it the fact that you didn't expect us to do the things we were doing now? Was it the fact that our lives can still be changed just because we have the ability to do so?”

Sephiroth smiled, clapping his hands together in a slow motion. “Yes, I recall the debates we had, about you always stating that the people of the Planet can act and think on their own, which makes everything unpredictable and unmanageable. That is my miscalculation, and if I fix that, by limiting a few things related to the parameters and such, then the plethora of errors should be avoided.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Cloud muttered, darting his eyes away from the other man and gazing at the endless purple abyss. “It's just, it's better if you know the difference between reality and fantasy; even I get those two things mixed up.” He stared at his hands, eyes narrowing at the wrinkles and lines that ran across his palms. “When I was following you, everything…I could feel everything.”

“Yes, very true,” Sephiroth muttered, thinking. “It was too real, but I wanted it to be realistic. Lest the denizens of the new world I'm going to create, attempt to advance by diving into the Crater, which I will have to place there for several purposes, I will put WEAPONs around it and set up other defenses.”

“So what's going to happen to the people who know too much? Is it a bad thing?” Cloud questioned, twisting around to face Sephiroth again with a demeanor of uncertainty.

He was always like that, Sephiroth figured, challenging him and testing his beliefs as though Cloud didn't trust him at all regarding his own mind. Then again, he had a good reason to, he supposed. “They will have to be eliminated. You have to keep in mind, in this new project, these are not going to be the same as your people; they will be programmed, and their knowledge will be limited once they somehow attain new knowledge, which should be impossible.”

“Do you think these alterations will work?” Cloud inquired, obviously uneasy about the process. “I wonder how I'm going to contribute to this.”

“You will return to the place where you belong,” Sephiroth stated, causing his puppet to gasp in surprise. He raised an eyebrow, staring at Cloud with a smirk on his face. “Surprised that I'm letting you go? I thought it was strange of me too, but I figured, you outlived your purpose here, and my experiments are somewhat finished. Despite that,” he paused, gazing at Cloud gravely.

Cloud froze, captivated by Sephiroth's scrutinizing stare.

“Keep in mind, that where ever you go,” Sephiroth lowered his voice, almost threateningly, and he grabbed Cloud by the shoulders, tightening his hold on him. Cloud winced, but he never once broke the gaze with Sephiroth, and Sephiroth admired him for that, always facing the consequences and problems bravely, and never backing down. It was something that even Sephiroth couldn't attain. “Everything of you, belongs to Zack and I.”

Cloud turned away, unable to witness the possessive look in Sephiroth's eyes. Hell, even Sephiroth couldn't comprehend his own actions, but he supposed that once Cloud returned to the Planet, by using the Twilight Materia that he had received from Zack, he would be able to organize his scattered thoughts and pinpoint the confusing feelings he had been expressing lately.

“Why is it important for me to know that?” Cloud asked, confused. “I know very well that your ancestors saved all of us, but you act as though I would forget you or something like that.” He paused, a look of embarrassment on his face. “Or as though I'm sort of a thing or lover for you or Zack, but I don't want to get into that.”

Sephiroth laughed at Cloud's antics, and suddenly, his arms encircled his puppet's waist. So warm… He whispered to Cloud's ears, making the other one shiver, “I don't think you realize just how different you are than anything else that I've seen…” There was a stillness between them, that neither men interrupted, staying in each other's embrace. “And yes, when you return to the Original Planet, I don't want you to forget.”

I don't want you to forget me.

--

The hug can be interpreted many ways:

1) Sephiroth is possessive/needy of human contact/Cloud
2) Sephiroth wants to mess with Cloud's head
3) Sephiroth is feeling affectionate because he's amused
4) *laughs* All of the above (because even Sephiroth can't understand himself or Cloud at this point, regarding their actions)

The other kiss can be interpreted:

1) Sephiroth is very very lost and confused aka he doesn't know WTH he's doing.
2) O_o he actually likes Cloud? WTF? (that's too fast, lol)
3) He's messing with Cloud's head (Duh, he always does that)
4) All above? *wink*

I love confused boys. And apologies for not updating before the year of '08 ended… Stupid snowstorms knocking out the power… Happy '09 everyone!