Author's note: This story takes place after the end of Final Fantasy VII. There might be spoilers in here...I think, so be warned in case there are. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it!!!
Ying/Yang
By: Silver Rayne
Part 1
What can one possibly say about a man so great that his own life was of little consequence to him? A human knee deep in blood not entirely his own, and a soul shared of lifetimes gone by. His existence had been short by mortal standards, ended early and not by old age or any ailments. No. He had been murdered, slain before a group of uncaring dolts. Idiot men following the orders of a larger fool in power over mindless puppets.
And why should I care?
I'm dead.
You're dead.
We're both dead.
Yes. But, your position in the afterlife is quite the opposite of mine. I serve a purpose here. I hold this timeline together, keep everything the way it should be. If that is 'dead' under your definition of the word, then I am proud to be dead.
Don't mock me.
We could have so much more.
You and I.
His entire being lurched from the imagery of being slapped across the face. A gentle motion, hardly without compassion. She didn't hate him. Couldn't stand fighting or bickering with him. But, she was doing it all the same. Why? What else was there to do in the lifestream? Go for a swim? Maybe call over a couple of friends, stroll on down to the bar and have a drink. Talk about old times, family, adventures...anything that was too damn important to let go of. But, he couldn't. Couldn't walk. Talk. Think. He was just there.
This sucks!
I must say, you definitely have a way with words.
Aerith, do me a favor...if you find this amusing, keep it to yourself.
How long have I been here?
Again, there was the feeling of details and pictures being projected directly into his mind. So what! She was free to take whatever she wanted of him, might as well give a little back. And what a slide show her memories made. *Why does she get to peek at the outside world and see what's going on? Why can't I?*
You miss him, don't you?
Mentally, he imagined himself scowling, showing some teeth under his upper lip. Maybe a growl....scare her into thinking he had snapped. Who wouldn't blow their brains out if they could? The lifestream was one big, piece of nothingness.
Who?
That isn't very nice of you.
I know what you want.
That got him going. Spending a couple of years with Aerith had taught him some things. He sent an extremely loud laugh over her way. Deafen her. Teach her not to toy with his emotions. Didn't death rob people of simple liabilities known as feelings? By all rights, they should. *If you're going to take away my love, my body, my sense of humor...why not go the whole nine yards? I don't want to feel.*
Sure you do.
Zack...what if I told you I could send you back?
Return you to what you lost.
I'd say you're full of shit!
And...how much is it going to cost me?
If he could, he would have smiled the impish grin which he was notorious for. No...had been notorious for. Everything was so 'past tense' all of a sudden. When had his life or lack of it become so complicated?
Be warned, if I bring you back to life, it could have dire consequences.
Your beloved Cloud...
the life you knew...
it won't be the same.
Nothing can ever go back to the way it was.
You will be entering into his world at the present moment, where Cloud will be the man he is, not the man he was.
Is this an appealing scenario to you?
Can you find a place in that world if he is with another man or woman?
Cloud?
Fall in love with someone else?
Hah!
He wouldn't dare.
I'd mess up his spiky head...
I'd take back my sword and knock him silly with it
And your answer is...?
Huh? You asked me a question?
Zack! I don't have time for this.
There are other things which I could be doing.
For example...?
Her essence began to leave him, to move on to things which required her attention. They probably wouldn't hassle her as much as he did. Well, he wasn't going to change because of her unwillingness to accept him. Spending another year with her would drive him out of his...wait, that couldn't happen. He was stuck, fixated in the accursed lifestream like a helpless fly in a spider web. How bugs annoyed him! And now to be compared to one. *I could really go for a beer around now. Maybe with one blonde, cute boy with spiky hair on the side.* Yes, he would really appreciate the second wish in his lap or beside him on a nice, fluffy...
Okay! Um...Aerith?
Yes, Zack?
Send me back? Pretty please with a cherry on top?
I'll kiss your feet...*not likely*
bow before you...*don't count on it*
mail you a wedding photo of me and Cloud...*get your own boyfriend*
Very well, I'll do this for you.
And Zack...quit it with the sarcasm.
I have had it up to 'here' with your personality.
About all I can stand.
Now...out of my sight.
And, that was the end of it.
He was free!
Free at last!!!
"Hmmm...I see darkness...all empowering darkness. Where the hell am I?" *Where the hell am?* "Oh great! I'm so nuts that I'm echoing myself inside and outside of my head. Shut up already!"
More darkness...*start groping...no, not that kind of groping. Keep your mind on the task at hand, Zack.* "YES! A light switch...and now we have..." It didn't work. "No light. This is very, very interesting. AERITH!!!"
**
You understand that by going back, this will be your final chance?
Undeniably, yes.
I shall not waste it this time.
This is the second time I'm sending you back.
Do you have anything to say for yourself?
Let me ponder that...
Ah, I will be more careful in the future.
My second chance was forfeit thanks to some imbecile shooting me in the head.
It was an accident.
You aren't going to kill that man for revenge are you?
He thought you were one of the local monsters.
No...
I won't kill him.
I promise.
Cross my heart and hope to...the rest of the saying evades me.
Go then.
And try not to repeat your mistakes...
Sephiroth.
**
"What are you thinking about?"
Cloud looked up at Vincent and absently sighed. It was a long, drawn out breath which threatened to crumble his weakened form. Lately, he couldn't find the strength or motivation to continue on with his life. What was the point of it? His lover was long buried underneath the ground. Sephiroth's reign of terror had come to a blinding stop and now...nothing.
"Can we go out tonight? Without Cid and the others?" He hoped that Vincent wouldn't hear the desperation in his voice. How lonely and lost he had become.
"Cloud...you know that Cid and I are together. I'm sorry." That clawed hand touched his shoulder in the barest of affection and then was gone again. And so was Vincent. How could he watch his friend turn to putty under the pressures of youth? Now that there was no more fighting going on, Cloud was rapidly regaining his youth. It had evaded him during the long battles, the swords-play and mourning. The aged cocoon of war was receding back to where it belonged, in the future. He hoped that he would never have to call upon that side of himself again. The cold, two dimensional alien which kept struggling to put things right. No matter what the cost.
"Zack..." Cloud propped his chin up on his elbows and leaned towards the window, following the rolling mist with his eyes. Outside, the weather was stirring up a weird storm. And so what if it did? Nibelheim could withstand a few raindrops or a barrage of sleet and hail. A fictional town with make-belief people didn't have much to worry about. Actors could move on, rebuild their lives. Cloud could not. Would he ever fall in love again? So much time had gone by.
**
"Stupid bitch!" A crackling maddening laughter rocked the mountainside, frightened away all the creatures nearby. "Dear Aerith, you are one of the most annoying cows I have ever had to contend with. But, mark my words, you will be repaid for your act of mercy."
Sephiroth eyed a figure walking along the rocky path ahead of him. The man was deep in thought, not paying attention to where he was going. His troubles were not his own, kind soul that he was. Most likely considering a friend, a poor bastard not fearing even the slightest of troubles. A crack of thunder struck the sky and Sephiroth laughed again.
That got his attention. The man looked up, startled and recognized Sephiroth. Lightning quick, a clawed hand reached for his belt, grasping futilely. His eyes went wide when Sephiroth marched over to him, long hair streaming in the wind. Mako-green eyes glaring, opening up Vincent from the inside with hatred.
"You...stupid...little...pawn!" Sephiroth breached the distance between them and grabbed hold of Vincent's cape, drawing it tightly in front, choking him. Then, he slammed him up against the rock face, grinding his back into protruding tree stumps and gravel. "Where are your friends now?"
Vincent tried to peel back Sephiroth's hands with his fingers but couldn't. He would have howled in agony when his clawed arm was grabbed and twisted. But, as it was, breathing itself was too hazardous. *Can't...breathe...how did he...where did he come from?* Vincent drew back his flesh covered arm and aimed for Sephiroth's open, leering mouth.
"I will not tolerate rebellion." A sharp snapping sound made Vincent nauseous, nearly caused him to faint. Sephiroth had broken one of his clawed fingers, bent it further than was possible and just dislocated the metal junction.
It hurt. Being held above Sephiroth's maniacal face, smashed time and again into solid rock...it hurt worse than anything Vincent could recall in a long time gone by. Why was this happening to him? What had he done? Already, his sacrificed years as Hojo's specimen had served as punishment enough for not being able to save his Lucrecia. God, he had did everything in his power. Wasn't it enough? Would it ever be enough? *Just kill me now...* Those words almost left his lips until he realized how selfish they would be. He couldn't die. Not when he was loved and cared for. Someone did love him back with equal commitment. *Cid...*
"Now...let's have a little talk. Where is Cloud?"
The tension around Vincent's throat eased off a bit as he was allowed to regain his footing. At least by means of his toes supporting his entire body. *I'm going to collapse.* "I...don't...know," he managed to get out. Then, he was tossed precariously close to the edge of the mountainside, on the ledge looking down to what could have been a bottomless pit. How many people were down there? Sephiroth had thrown many innocent people off of the Nibelheim mountains. Too many lives...gone...forever.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Sephiroth shook Vincent like a rag doll, picked him up and threw him again. This time, Vincent couldn't stop the scream which exploded out of him when his clawed arm was smashed under the heel of Sephiroth's boot. Grinding, twisting, breaking the metal components, sending negative neuron signals straight to Vincent's agonized brain.
"Sephiroth...how can you do this to me?" Vincent gazed up at him with pleading eyes, panting deliriously as his vision shook in front of him. His entire body quivered with each breath that he took. "We both loved the same woman...your mother...my first love. She would not want..."
Sephiroth kicked Vincent in the head, knocking him out cold. His face was now menacingly evil, promising certain death if Vincent were to move. "My mother is queen of this world. You...," another prodding of his boot under Vincent's back, "..are not permitted to mention her again. With or without your help, I will destroy Cloud and each of his band of merry idiots. Either way, you will make a fine project for me to dissect." He slung Vincent over his shoulder, listening to fragments of metal drop off of the man's mechanical arm. "You really should have been carrying your gun. Careless jerk," he clucked.
If Vincent had been expecting anything other than a date with Cid, he might have been armed. But, he had only been in a cheerful mood, brooding a little over Cloud's dilemma but happy all the same. He loved Cid, wanted to be with him, had been on the verge of celebrating their victory. The end of the senseless killing and suffering. Now, it was starting all over again.
**
"Aerith?"
Was she able to hear him? Zack tripped over something and cursed the high heavens. "Cloud is supposed to be the klutsy one. Aerith! Um...I'm sorry I made fun of you. You look great in pink...really." He waited, still fumbling around in pitch blackness. "Fine! Don't come crying to me when you miss my witty sense of humor."
Finally, his hand closed on something which felt like a cord leading to a light bulb fixture above his head. He pulled and... "Finally!" His enclosure was bathed in a warm, comforting yellowish glow. So, this was where he was. A bedroom. Zack frowned. Who did the bedroom belong to? It appeared to be vacant, the bed neatly made, all of the books lined up alphabetically on the shelves. A gas lamp burnt to embers beside the fireplace. "Did I miss him?" Could Cloud have stayed here and already be gone?
Zack paused when he noticed a sword lying behind the bed, facing the closet. It was dull and unsharpened but the dark, ugly stain of blood had long since dried along the edges. Where had he seen such a long, magnificent molded piece of metal? "That would make one fine weapon." *Wait a minute...*
A Masamune...and not just any sword...it was Sephiroth's Masamune, the scars of lives taken by the owner marked into it. Dents rained down the tip where Sephiroth had plunged it through bone, marrow, flesh and blood. Why was it here?
"Aerith...you're really starting to scare me."
Then, there she was, inside of his head, dancing back and forth gleefully. She was pleased that Zack had summoned her. He needed her and it boosted her ego ever so slightly.
What can I do for you now?
"Okay...question number one, where am I?"
Nibelheim.
"What is Sephiroth's sword doing in Nibelheim?"
You are in the bedroom where he stayed during the beginning of his downfall.
It is his bedroom...therefore, that would be his sword.
Are there any other questions which you'd like answered?
It sounded like Aerith was getting a kick out of running his life for him. Playing guessing games which froze his blood in his veins. "Last question...where is Sephiroth?"
She began to giggle, an unpleasant poke into his eardrums. He wished she would contain her ancient amusement and give him some straight answers.
How would I know where Sephiroth is?
I'm not his keeper.
"So...you're laughing because, a) I'm a stupid mortal or, b) Sephiroth is here too as a practical joke? Which is it?"
Gee, Zack.
I wish I could help you.
Well,...I choose...oh this is so hard...B.
But, it isn't any joke.
You see, when you agreed to be sent back, you didn't ask the conditions of that release.
I couldn't tip the scales between good and evil.
You represent the goodness in Cloud's life, all that ever made him happy.
Sephiroth is your nemesis, the only one who could take Cloud's happiness from him.
Are you still enjoying your life?
Does it please you to know that your selfish wish to be reincarnated now threatens everyone Cloud holds dear to him?
"I didn't ask for that!!! You told me that I could return to Cloud...you said all I would have to do is win him back. The only obstacle you bothered to mention was maybe a rival. Sephiroth isn't a freakin' rival. He's a hellhound with razor sharp teeth and a thirst for blood. How could you do this? Who are you to play God with Cloud's life?"
You've been mean.
I don't like your tone.
Maybe I won't tell you anything else.
Maybe I'll join Sephiroth's side.
Zack narrowed his eyes, hefting Sephiroth's sword over his shoulder. "I don't know what your game is. You were never cruel or heartless to me or anyone. But, I'm not going to let you destroy what took Cloud so long to take back. You've already told me that there has to be a balance between good and evil. Interfering would upset that balance. So, do me a favor, screw off!" He swatted her out of his head and felt an enormous weight push down on his shoulders.
"What am I going to do?"
End of part 1