Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Complete Opposite ❯ Chapter V ( Chapter 5 )

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

“Hohoho! Welcome, my friends. Back again?”

At the elderly man, Sephiroth nodded respectfully, answering, “Yes.”

Red circled his grandfather’s feet, saying, “He’s here, Grandfather. What do you think?”

Bugenhagen smiled at the lion’s antics. It was always when he was home in Cosmo Canyon he acted like the child he was, seeming to push aside his troubled and worries. “I never doubt your knowledge, Nanaki,” he said, calling the lion by his native name. To the rest of the AVALANCHE present, he gestured behind him to his home. “Please, come in. We can speak inside.”

Cid shook his head and commented on how he needed to keep an eye on his ship, detouring to the stores to buy a few supplies. Yuffie grinned and took off without a word, obviously heading for the materia store to see if there was something she could buy. Barret snarled at the short blonde in front of him and roughly pushed pass him, grumbling about how he couldn’t stand the sight of a “rat bastard”.

Bugenhagen smiled slightly at the retreating form of the large man. “I see that many are not interested in being in the company of our guest.” His eyes strayed to Cloud, lingering slightly as he studied him. “But then again, it’s to be expected, considering who he is... Or who he’s suppose to be, anyway.”

Cloud lifted a brow at this sentence but didn’t object as the man beckoned him forward, following silently, entering the living area of the old man’s house. From the outside Cloud could already tell that Cosmo Canyon was far better than it was the last time her remembered. Here, it seemed that with Sephiroth as the Planet’s hero, things are better off than when it was him who stopped the silver-haired man. But then again, it was Sephiroth here. Parallel universe or not, Sephiroth will always be the best as it was destined for him to play a role of superiority some way or another.

Cloud looked around the circular room and sat on one of the cushions in the middle of the room, the elderly man standing in front of him across from a small circular table, a candle in the center. Bugenhagen laughed a bit as he sat in front of the blonde.

“This is where I drink my tea. Hohoho. Ignore the candle if unless it’s a more fascinating thing to look at since it distracts you from the truth.”

Cloud’s eyes flashed as he lifted his gaze sharply to scowl at the elderly man. Bugenhagen only smiled and gestured absently to the AVALNCHE members that followed him and the blonde into his home to witness the interrogation, telling them to close the door.

“What’s your name?”

“Cloud,” was the blonde’s short reply.

“Cloud... what?”

“Cloud Strife.”

“Where do you come from?”

Cloud lifted his head, sitting back, forcing himself to ease his tense shoulders. He didn’t understand what this interrogation was for, but was in no position to object. The only thing he had in mind was that he didn’t like where it would head.

“Nebilheim.”

“Is there anything you can tell me that is most significant from your hometown?”

Cloud noticed how the elderly man said ‘me’ instead of ‘us’, as if it was just the two of them. Did the man forget the group that stared at him, especially the pair of green eyes that bore a hole in his back? Cloud didn’t. But he forced himself to try and ignore them.

“... The well in the center where I told Tifa I would join Shinra.”

Bugenhagen smiled. “Anything else?”

Cloud stared at the man for a moment. Of course there was something he could add, but it was something he didn’t want to remember. So replying, he said, “No.”

The man chuckled and continued, well aware of the other’s uneasiness. “What of Shinra? Anything significant there?”

Blurred images passed in Cloud’s head and he pushed them away. “Nothing I remember.”

“Nothing?” Bugenhagen repeated.

“Nothing,” Cloud clarified with a final note in his tone.

“Well then, tell me, Cloud Strife, what are you feeling right now?”

That question came out of nowhere. Lifting a brow, Cloud replied stubbornly, “Irritability.”

“Why?”

Snorting slightly, Cloud leaned forward a bit. “How else would one feel when asked idiotic questions concerning his name and significance of his hometown and places he’s been?”

Bugenhagen chuckled once more. “Hohoho! Excuse me if your temper is wearing thin. But please, tell me, what is your reaction when I say that you nearly destroyed the Planet not but over a year ago, causing great destruction and chaos, nearly sending every citizen here into mental turmoil?”

Honestly, Cloud responded, “I’d say you’re lying.”

“How so?”

“Sephiroth is the man who attempted in become a god and wanting to create a deep wound in the Planet, causing Mother Gaea’s pain. The man sitting right behind me is the one who was the son of JENOVA and cause of the near death of the Planet, not me. There is no need to reminisce over the topic.”

Bugenhagen stared at the blonde quietly, catching his gaze, the small flame from the candle reflecting off his eyes. After a pause, he said, “How would you respond if I said that I thought you were lying and wish to pinpoint your death and put all blame on the man who killed you?”

“Killed me? It should be the other way around.”

“Should be?” Bugenhagen repeated. “Does that mean that you believe you brought destruction to the Planet?”

Cloud’s eyes narrowed slightly, but not at the man, more at something else. “No. I still believe that Sephiroth was killed in the Crater after becoming the ethereal monstrosity that I had to face alone.” [1]

“Are you afraid, Cloud Strife?”

“Of what?”

“Of facing the truth?”

“The only truth is that Sephiroth is supposed to be dead, along with Zack and Aeris and probably a million other people that aren’t,” Cloud replied sharply, his frustration getting the better of him. “This truth you tell me of is nothing but a dream. A horrible and sick dream that Gaea has forced upon me as an excuse to make me help her.”

Bugenhagen lifted his brows at this. “Gaea wants you to help her?”

Cloud closed his eyes and stood up slowly. “Bugenhagen...”

The elderly man held up a hand, stalling the blonde. “Just a moment. As a final question for this interrogation, how would you like to see what you deny as the truth?”

“What??”

Cloud glanced over his shoulder to see Zack raise his brows at the suggestion.

“Bugenhagen, I would think that he would know already.”

The man shook his head, addressing someone other than Cloud for the first time since their entered the room. “But from Cloud Strife’s answers it seems that he does not believe in the truth.”

Zack frowned but said no more, letting Cloud respond. The blonde returned his gaze to the old man and frowned down at him. “Why?”

“Is there harm in knowing what he see as the truth?” the elderly asked, meeting his gaze. “I don’t see why. Perhaps this still prove whether you are in a dream or not.”

Cloud sighed and looked away. “Do as you will.”

Bugenhagen stood up and smiled kindly at the blonde. To the AVALANCHE team he said, “Perhaps one or two of who would like to accompany him?”

Sephiroth stood up silently. It was not a surprise that he would volunteer to accompany the man to show the blonde the truth. However, what was a slight surprise was that Vincent stood as well. The rest of the AVALANCHE team stood up in unison, the decision made for them who would go. Zack escorted Aeris out of the room, patting Sephiroth on the shoulder and whispering something in his ear before leaving. Red, however, circled his grandfather’s legs and laid down where the man’s mat was.

“I’ll stay here, Grandpa.”

Bugenhagen nodded and led the three men out to the elevator that rode up to the man’s observatory. They entered a room off to the side where Bugenhagen had a machine that would show the events over the years that concerned the Judgment Day. He gestured to the bed near the machine, heading immediately toward it as Cloud hesitantly sat down.

Once the machine was set up, he boldly set a device over Cloud’s head, a black visor coming over his eyes and round things fell over his ears, a cord snaking away from the side of the device to the machine a meter or two away. Bugenhagen eased Cloud back onto the bed, the man hesitant and unsure as he sank into the softness of the bed, an arm draped over his middle while his other hand hung over the edge of the bed. To the rest, he seemed asleep, but his breathing contradicted the thought.

“Cloud, are you comfortable?”

Cloud grunted his reply, knowing that this was as comfortable he would be able to get.

“All right. It shouldn’t be long until the video starts.”

Cloud took a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing he was far from ready to watch this documentation but wasn’t given a choice as it started before he even knew it.

AN: Okay, so much for my filler chapter. I hope everyone’s okay with my twists and how I’ve portrayed everyone. I know that in some parts (whether it’s obvious now or not) the characters are a tad OOC (or maybe a lot, depending if you pay that much attention), but it should all still be in line. I’m trying to keep the story in my head and create this masterpiece for you.

[1] Really, you fight him as normal, but it sounds much better if Cloud really did fight alone. Just making Cloud sound more like a hero, is all.

Please remember to review for me because feedback keeps this thing going.

Converting /tmp/phpGtawZ1 to /dev/stdout