From Sephiroth’s vantage point, all he could see was the back of Cloud’s head as the
younger man scribbled something onto a piece of paper. After that kiss, Cloud had
quickly withdrawn his emotions, finding anything to take up his time. He said that he
was figuring out how much the repairs to his house were going to cost him. Sephiroth
knew that it was just a ploy to avoid discussing their situation.
“Why don’t you come over here?” Sephiroth patted down the cushions on the carpet that
he had become comfortable with. He had been pretending to read a business magazine
found on one of the racks by the bed. But, it didn’t interest him in the least.
“No thanks.”
This was not going to be as easy as Sephiroth had originally thought. Cloud was
stubborn as a mule and not getting over it any time soon. “Let me rephrase that…sit
down so that we can talk. You can’t act like I am not here because I am. Or did I just
imagine you kissing me down in the lobby? Hmm?”
“Don’t be so smug. I must’ve been drunk. You probably put something in my drink.”
Then quieter under his breath, “typical behavior from someone like you.”
“Is that a fact?” His hearing was very acute as a result of being exposed to the mystical
anger of oblivion. Cloud could whisper along the lines of just breathing but his words
would not pass by Sephiroth unnoticed. “And how would you know what my ‘typical
behavior’ is like?”
“You don’t sound so apologetic anymore. More like the old Sephiroth with a short
temper. If what you told me is true, then your mind didn’t even age while you were
wherever you said you were. I matured five years while you just grew moldy in a state of
limbo. How could you have changed if you didn’t even go through the process of
maturing over all those years?” Cloud flung his pad of paper onto the night stand and
glared at the older man. “You even look the same age.”
“Moldy?” The expression on Sephiroth’s face grew sour. “Is that how you see me?
Surely it was meant as a joke.” He approached Cloud menacingly. “You really believe
that I am the same man I was all those years ago? Then you should be very afraid of me.
Very, very afraid.” Inside, he was laughing when Cloud shrank away from him. Cloud
had always been gullible.
However, Cloud attempted to regain some of his dignity by looking somewhere else.
Anywhere but into Sephiroth’s eyes where he would become victim to his true emotions
once more. It was inevitable, that much was true, but human nature demanded the
postponing of the inevitable. Humans had nothing better to do than deny what was
hammered out in stone. Rebelling against it gave them something to do and occupied
their minds. Only Sephiroth realized just how futile it was to resist what was meant to
be.
“Trust is difficult to achieve, even in the stupidest of mortal men,” Sephiroth snarled.
“When I believed myself to be immortal and omnipotent, trust didn’t matter to me. I
took it for granted so I appreciate your reasons for mistrusting me. But…love is another
subject entirely. Love is not granted upon two people, it just happens. There is no
waiting period to see if it is real or not. When I saw you, I knew…I knew that I loved
you. I couldn’t care less if you trust me or not.”
“That was so touching, I almost cried.” The sarcastic tongue of Cloud’s was more than
Sephiroth could handle.
Before Cloud could register what was on Sephiroth’s mind, he had his hair clutched
between the man’s tapered fingers and was being yanked up by it. “How could I have
ever fallen for an impudent, insulting child such as yourself?” He seized both of Cloud’s
wrists with one hand, restraining him.
“See, you haven’t changed one bit. You’re going to kill me now, aren’t you?”
“No, Cloud. I’m going to do something much worse to you.” Then Sephiroth was
pressing his lips tightly to Cloud’s, smothering him with a harsh kiss. He wouldn’t
accept any struggling, pulling Cloud over by his hair and arms. Just as Cloud was
beginning to kiss him back, Sephiroth threw him onto the floor beside the cushions.
“Now, I asked you nicely to join me in a conversation. Do not refuse again.”
“Why you…!” It was hard to tell if Cloud was about to growl or laugh. He couldn’t take
Sephiroth’s calm, joking manner. There was an uncharacteristic aspect to it but Cloud
liked it. He hadn’t thought that Sephiroth was capable of any humor or affection but here
he was, proving everything Cloud ever knew about him wrong. When Sephiroth was
sitting in front of him, he burst into a fit of laughter.
Sephiroth was puzzled. This wasn’t the reaction he had been aiming for. If Cloud was
scared, he could be easily manipulated. That would solve any problem he had of gaining
Cloud’s obedient companionship. Why did Cloud find him amusing? “Would you care
to enlighten me on your mental instability?” His eyes narrowed at Cloud, insulted for
being taken so lightly.
“Me? I’m not the unstable one. Oh…am I not allowed to laugh while in your presence?”
Cloud cleared his throat and settled down. “Fine. I won’t laugh at you but you aren’t
scoring any points by ordering me around.”
“Is that so?” He shrugged and ran his fingers through Cloud’s pointy, blonde hair.
“Maybe I need to be more persuasive.”
“Didn’t you want to talk?”
“The need has passed,” came his bored response. Instead, his hands had found the
buttons to Cloud’s shirt and were experimentally tugging at them. “There are better
things we can accomplish tonight.”
Cloud couldn’t fool himself. He would not turn Sephiroth down in any case. The man
was like an icon, a glowing angel in the center of darkness. Even as an insane conqueror,
Sephiroth had his moments of glory. Why bother hiding his desire for the man who
needed a masculine form of the word ‘beautiful’ to describe him. There would never be
another man like Sephiroth. No one could compete with his good looks, his less than
sparkling personality and superior intelligence. That was the way it was for Cloud. No
other man or woman on the face of the earth could offer or promise him all that
Sephiroth had.
“You can’t mean…?” Cloud found his eyes looking somewhere they shouldn’t be to see
what kind of mood Sephiroth was in. Then, his skin burned a dark red, revealing his
embarrassment.
“I’m impressed, Cloud.” An evil sparkle glittered in Sephiroth’s eyes. “Had I known
that you were going to wait for me all these year, I would have solved Aerith’s riddle
quicker.” Now his hands were wandering down to Cloud’s belt buckle.
“I didn’t say that I waited for you. Stop giving yourself so much credit. I could have had
any number of men and women, that is none of your business.”
“Oh, but it is. Just by watching you, I know that I will be your first.”
“Please!” Cloud shoved Sephiroth away. “Do you ever stop gloating? You boast about
ruling the world, of the legion of followers who had been ready to die for your cause.
And now you want to brag about being the first to score with me? I’m not a prize to be
won!”
The atmosphere was extremely tense between the two men. It was obvious that neither
of them were in the mood anymore. “Sleep then, I don’t want a vile tempered ‘boy’
taking up my precious time.” To think that Sephiroth had assumed Cloud to have
matured over the years. But he still acted like a child…part of the reason why Sephiroth
found him to be so attractive. “On second thought.” He grabbed onto Cloud and dragged
him to lie at his side. “I didn’t give up an eternity of peace to sleep by myself on the
floor. We can do other…more entertaining things tomorrow.”
“I didn’t say that I was going to sleep with you.”
“You will. Now, by staying with me and later by sleeping with me in another sense.”
His grin was purely wicked when Cloud reddened some more.
What did Cloud really have to lose? He wanted Sephiroth just as badly and being close
to the man made him happy. So long as Sephiroth never discovered how dependent he
had become on him, they would both flourish together. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“I already have.” He dimmed the lights by hurling his sword carelessly at the switch
halfway across the room. His Masamune never failed him, what did was Cloud’s
speechless reaction. Sephiroth had found where he had stowed the sword and had taken
perfect aim from an impossible angle. “If I weren’t the gentleman that I am, I would
have suggested that we continue what you started in the Promised Land.”
“Huh? What did I start?”
“An unbreakable bond between us. You have sacrificed much to be with me, I see that
now. By giving me the Black Materia, you proved that you truly cared for me. Why
didn’t I see it sooner?” He swept aside Cloud’s unruly hair and kissed the back of his
neck as he held him tightly. “You came to me and stayed to see me through my direst
days, even if it meant your death. It makes me wonder what you were really after when
you chose to stay. If I remember correctly, I was in quite a state of undress when you
came across me in my stasis cocoon.”
That got Cloud’s attention. He was grateful that they were removed from the light of day
and of artificial sources thanks to Sephiroth’s talented use of his sword. If Sephiroth had
cat eyes, he would be able to see that Cloud couldn’t keep a straight face. Where was his
self control when he needed it? “Missing a pair of legs too from what I remember,”
Cloud added.
“Come now, your memory isn’t that frail. When I invited you into my Promised Land,
you saw more of me than you ever could have imagined in your wildest dreams. I could
have done whatever I pleased to you then, but I held back. And still you let me keep you
there.”
“I need time.” Cloud rolled over to face Sephiroth, his anger erased. “You can’t expect
me to give in to you in so few days.”
But Sephiroth didn’t agree with Cloud’s logic. He pinned Cloud to the cushions beneath
them and kissed him. When Cloud kissed him back, this time he didn’t push him away.
They wound up tangled in one of the blankets draped over the cushions, breathing hard
from their actions. Sephiroth was pleased with himself for seducing Cloud in record
time. It was a sign that they were back on the right track with one another. This was not
something he was going to lose. “Did I ever tell you what kind of powers Aerith
bestowed upon me?,” he whispered into Cloud’s ear.
Cloud shivered with delight and prayed that Sephiroth would decide that his long, black
coat wasn’t required in the next few minutes. “Why don’t you show me,” he suggested.
Even as he was uttering those words, he cringed when they reached his ears. Had he
really said that?
“Oh, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” Another kiss and Cloud was lying breathless
beneath him. “It isn’t tangible. More of a psychic ability than anything else. Think of
how miraculous it would be if I could see your thoughts. Go into your mind and
visualize every moment that you ever fantasized about. See myself the way that you do,
through your eyes.”
Suddenly, the color drained from Cloud’s face. “You can ‘see’ my thoughts?” He
gulped.
“Yes. I bet that you are wishing that I was wearing less right about now.” His grin was
sly when Cloud bit his bottom lip to keep it from trembling.
“Stop it!” He looked up again, feeling Sephiroth lightly stroking his face while smiling.
“Was that supposed to be funny? You tricked me!” Cloud batted away Sephiroth’s
hands, humiliated for allowing the man to manipulate him. Then, he merely lay back
when Sephiroth removed his jacket, revealing his very appealing body. “I think that I’m
the one stuck in a fantasy world,” he gasped.
Sephiroth gave him one last teasing glance before lying beside him and dozing off. He
kept his eyes firmly shut, listening intently for Cloud’s reaction.
“Stupid bastard,” came Cloud’s muttered resentment. How dare Sephiroth play with him
as if he were some plastic toy. He was not staying with Sephiroth for the man’s simple
amusement. But Sephiroth continued to taunt him, test his patience, see how far he was
willing to go and how much he could take. If it were anyone else, Cloud would have
been on his way without a second thought. However, this was the great Sephiroth, his
Sephiroth and he had no other alternative but to become the mouse in the game. So, if
Sephiroth decided that he was through with the mind games and seduction for one night,
then it also ended Cloud’s mood. There would be no going around the master plan,
whatever it was that Sephiroth had in store for him.
For Sephiroth, his dreams couldn’t have been filled with anymore bliss and fuzzy
thoughts. He was free. A man of his own reasoning and power. Nothing bothered to
alter his peaceful rest.
Unfortunately, Cloud was hounded by nightmares, patched swarms of pieces of his past.
They coalesced in front of him, turning into a chalky, blue hive of angry bees. And when
they sped after him, his entire body rained with the force of their stings. Suddenly, he
was back in the City of the Ancients, looking across a small circular dome situated atop a
small body of water. It was Aerith’s home, where her ancestors had lived until they had
become extinct.
The young woman was kneeling, her head bowed as if deep in a prayer. Whether it was
to her people or to God Himself, Cloud had never been sure. The city surrounding them
reminded Cloud of folklore about a city carved of seashells which had risen out of the
ocean. This city was just as beautiful, unable to do justice to do it with mortal
descriptions. And here she was, Aerith, the last of her kind, so at peace with her life.
She was just as beautiful as the city, and even more with the odd glowing dome
accentuating her every feature.
“Why am I reliving this?” Cloud turned to run but found that he was glued to the top of
the short staircase leading to the platform where Aerith knelt. “No!” His hands moved,
as if led by a puppeteer who was pulling his strings. One of his hands reached back,
withdrew his sword, blazing metallic murder in that holy light. “Aerith, run!,” his mind
screamed.
She opened her eyes, smiling openly at him with not a hint of fear or comprehension.
Her expression seemed to say that she had found something, knew more now. She could
stop Sephiroth, end his evil crusade in hunting down the Promised Land. Stop him from
killing more people. And also…give retribution to his soul. Slowly, her head tilted up
ever so slightly, ignoring the threat that Cloud posed. The sword was now outstretched
above Aerith’s head, suspended by the tense arms which held it. Yet…her smiled
remained true.
“Sephiroth! You can stop me! You have to stop me!” Cloud cried out to the mind
which was tampering with his own. He couldn’t make the other understand.
Then, he looked up and his heart began a countdown to hell. The first thumping of his
heart against his chest signaled the beginning of Sephiroth’s descent. The second
registered Sephiroth’s cloaked jacket, his long silver-white hair flapping over his
shoulders. Should he try to prevent Sephiroth’s assassination? Could he make it in time?
She was only two heartbeats away. He had to….he just had to.
Again, his heart clicked for the third time and his eyes engulfed the leering madness of
Sephiroth’s Masamune. How the blade glittered in the light, stretched from the sky to
nearly touch the ground. Was it possible to wield such a sword? Could Sephiroth keep
his balance if he were to fight with it? These questions probed the edges of Cloud’s
consciousness but froze in time. “It’s pointed down,” he whispered, analyzing the
relevance of that fact. Yes, it was staring down, directly at Aerith’s kneeling body. What
did it all mean?
A fourth clap of his heart to his ribcage and everything halted quietly. But, it was that
quiet mist which deafened Cloud’s eardrums. It didn’t seem loud enough when
Sephiroth’s blade slid neatly through Aerith’s back and plunged straight through her
body, impaling her on the length of his Masamune. Her lips parted in a minuscule
amount in comparison to the scream her throat should have been shooting out. It wasn’t
that way. She didn’t fight it, or flee, or beg for her life to be spared. No, Aerith had lived
a full life, enjoyed it to the bitter end. In some way, she had known what her fate
promised her.
Aerith died with a smile on her face, a fragment of puzzlement, maybe some confusion
but…her death was joyous. She welcomed her new existence in a world beyond what
she had always known.
“I could have saved her!” Cloud struggled out of his dream, pushing past the constraints
of his mind. “She was so close….if I had only tried.” He lifted one arm to brush back
his hair and found that he couldn’t move. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and they
clung to him too snugly.
“My guilt has been alleviated, Cloud. It is time for you to do the same with yours.”
Sephiroth held Cloud closer, calming his frantic breathing. “You must know that I was
controlling you on that day. No matter how much of an effort you put forth to save
Aerith, I would have kept you back. I killed her, not you.”
“Why did you do it? After all this time…I never knew why.” He looked up and to the
right to see Sephiroth leaning onto his shoulder. Their lips almost met…almost, but not
quite.
Sephiroth moved away but held his beloved Cloud with no less conviction. “Is it
necessary that you know the answer to that? You may not like my reasoning behind her
murder.”
“Tell me.”
“I killed Aerith out of jealousy. I wanted you all to myself…she was always getting in
my way. Now, do you hate me all over again? Knowing that she died for some
whimsical pleasure of mine.”
Cloud shook his head and rested against Sephiroth, shrugging off his damp shirt to feel
the other man’s skin pressed to his own. It was a nice, comforting pleasure but under the
circumstances, not enough to lead into much else. “It isn’t that easy for me to hate you.
What I want is to understand you. Maybe then, we can finally be together.”
“That would be…nice.” One of Sephiroth’s rare grins showed itself to Cloud, receiving
a shaky one from him. They were on the right path for once and soon, he would have
Cloud as his equal.
