Enigma

Enigma
Rated:R
Author:Cloudyfire

Last Time

Opening it up Cloud instantly stiffened his shoulders, looking wide eyed at the object inside the safe. Kneeling slowly as if it were a wild animal, Cloud reached in with his hand, before grabbing the object and squeezing it.

Most likely to see if the object was real or just his imagination. Turning the colorful orb around Cloud deduced the object was a cure materia. Grabbing the small tinny green orb Cloud set it on his bracer hidden under his shirt. The cadets were not supposed to handle magic nor materia but that didn’t stop Cloud, he had three including this new one on his arm bracer.

Ready to fulfill the bidding’s of it’s master when called.


The Skies are so Blue

Turning back Cloud walked out and was going to head back down the stairs seeing that it was about noon now and the next guard was supposed to come in. He was almost half way through the wooden hallway when something flashed to his right.

Thinking quickly Cloud grabbed his sword and crouched down ready for anything, but nothing was there.

Frowning and a little embarrassed that he had reacted that way Cloud walked into the room that had flashed. The room was bare compared to all the others in the mansion. There were some pictures and a lot of foot prints apparently leading no where. Puzzled Cloud lowered his sword and sheathed it.

Something about this place was oddly familiar, but he just couldn’t figure out why.

Looking around and noting the faded cream colored wall that had no pictures on it. Cloud shrugged turning around until he caught the flashing light again. Annoyed and wanting to know what the hell the thing was Cloud stood right in the middle of the room and looked at all the corners, until he came across the cream colored wall again.

This seemed oddly familiar somehow.

Then a train of thought trickled in even as he spotted the tiny light in the crack at the bottom.

God how could he be so dense.

It was practically staring at him, this was the room where Naruto and him had gone into.

The small hidden trap door, that led down stairs and into that lab. It was small, so small he doubted that someone not looking for it could have caught it. Right by the corner was a small beam of light shining through a crack. Laughing at his own stupidity Cloud leaned back thinking. What should he do, go down that path and look around, or turn around and wait for the next shift to be dispatched. Humming softly the blond without knowing it had started to sway from left to right with a glazed look over his eyes, lost in thought.

He started to think what Zack would do, but that was a no brainier, what would the General do.

Nodding once, feeling his long spikes move with the motion, he stepped forward. Shifting his weight a little Cloud prodded the wall, smiling in victory when the wall gave way to darkness. Stepping aside Cloud readied his weapon and slowly trekked down the stairs. He may have been down there before but a little extra protection never hurt anyone.

Cloud noted along the way that he could see new and old foot prints on the stairs. Most likely they were his and Naruto’s from the last time. When the blond had finally made it down the last step he looked left to right, making sure no one or anything was going to come and charge at him. He rounded a brick wall to see a small door off a little to his right. Turning Cloud touched the handle and watched as the door did nothing, it was either stuck or it was locked. Frowning at this Cloud stepped back and was about to knock the door forcibly open when he caught sight of a metal door.

Sighing he was trying to decide which door he really wanted. He could bet his life that the door in front of him had been where Vincent Valentine had slept. He wanted to see if the man had been true to his words. That he had crashed his sleeping coffin to tiny bits and had literally burned and smashed all that had been in that room.

For some reason Cloud could not picture Vincent doing any of those things. The man just seemed too calm and collected for his own good.

He was momentarily startled when he heard voices, they were coming from the metal door. Curiosity peeked he moved closer wanting to hear, “Come on Seph we have to go.” Only to give give a start when he recognized it was Zack’s voice.

They were down here too, and they also knew about the trap door apparently.

“Then go.” Was the short reply.

Cloud could hear shifting before Zack spoke up again.

“Seph you have been here for over twelve hours. The troops are getting flustered.”

But before he could continue Sephiroth’s cold voice sounded in the background.

“I don’t care about those weak humans, the bane of my existence and mothers.”

“What are you talking about your human too.” Cloud heard Zack snort as he finished, picturing his crossed expression.

“I am nothing like those weak excuses of flesh. Do not compare me with those riddled swine.” Was the cold reply.

Cloud heard distantly a heavy object being dropped on the concrete and foot stepping.

“Go away.” Was the next words steeped with pitted anger and frustration.

“Seph look at yourself your losing it man. There is no mother, nor this Jenova crap, they were monsters but you aren’t, your human.”

“GO AWAY.” Cloud heard Sephiroth shout.

The next thing he knew was the metal door opening and Zack exiting. He looked a little flustered and worried before he shook his head, making his black hair sway. His dark violet eyes darkening even more as he looked up.

Cloud was sure Zack had seen him. For who wouldn’t have when the blond was just standing right there in plain sight. Getting prepared for a lecture from the First Class Solider the unthinkable happened. Zack passed right by the blond.

Dumbfounded Cloud just stood there and watched his friend’s back leave, it was like he didn’t even notice the blond was there in the first place. Clearing his thoughts Cloud turned and looked back at the metal door making sure that Sephiroth wasn’t coming out of it. He was sorely tempted to just leave now and forget everything had happened. The General had sounded beyond pissed.

Why if Cloud had seen white foam at the man’s mouth this very instant he would not have been surprised.

Not hearing any further noises inside the room and filled with curiosity Cloud had decided, he wanted to know what had upset Zack so much.

Pushing a little then quickly darting to the right Cloud watched as the door swished open like it had recently been oiled, making no sound. Which was good in Clouds opinion. Looking around the room to see if anyone was there Cloud relaxed his shoulders a little deeming it semi safe since no one was in the near vicinity.

Walking in a little more he absently noted this was the lab from last time, with all the chemicals and glass bottles still on the shelves the rest were all over the floor. He also noticed the large computer that looked like a fist had rammed into the screen along with notes scattered all over the table.

Cloud caught a few books lying on the ground and some smashed glass along with it. This was what he had probably heard earlier then, he deduced as he looked at the books on the floor.

Well it looked like Sephiroth didn’t like something he saw in here, Cloud thought a little befuddled.

He would have never guessed the great Sephiroth would have lost his cool, ever.

Walking over the broken bottles Cloud picked up some notes that had fallen to the ground. He also noticed a white door halfway open into the next room, which looked like a hallway but he wanted to stay where he was. Because he was pretty sure Sephiroth was still in there somewhere, mad as hell.

Narrowing his eyes down at the white sheets of paper he absently skimmed over them to see what was on them. Looking at all the numbers and scrabbles Cloud quickly walked over to the computer and grabbed all the white notes he could and skimmed over them to. He saw a lot of data for Project “C”, “S”, but nothing important, he vaguely wondered who those poor saps were.

He also saw different symbols on the paper like a leaf inside a circle or words that were unreadable. Huffing Cloud threw the worthless notes onto the table. Not at all interested in them anymore. Most of the books were completely unreadable and others were just data about who knows what.

Cloud was at the end of the line, and with nothing to show so far, it was rather frustrating. All he had gotten were things like the Promised Land and the Ancients and Jenova and Sephiroth classed “S” project.

The books hadn’t even gone into details about them either so Cloud barley knew what those words meant. Throwing a book on the ground Cloud glared at nothing in particular, the only sound throughout the library was his harsh breathing and confused thoughts. Why would the General say weak humans, not one of them. And why was he getting worked up about this anyway, it wasn’t his problem, he didn’t even now the guy all that well but Zack did. And Cloud was Zack’s friend through thick and thin.

Pressing one hand on his face and the other gripping the crystal necklace, Cloud calmed his thoughts and decided to go home and look for any answers there.

He had to find Zack and talk to him, maybe he knew something, he was a First Class Solider after all. By the time Cloud had made it outside he knew something had happened. No guards were around and he could smell smoke.

Making a mad dash towards the village when he had seem the actual smoke rise up through the canopies in the direction of his home village.

A million thoughts running wild through his warped thought pattern. Why was there no alarms going off, why was it so silent not a scream uttered. Before he knew it Cloud was at the outskirts of town.

Now smelling a sweet acid smell in the air with distant sobs and pitch black smoke
everywhere.

Fearing for his mother Cloud ran looking at all the dead slashed bodies of some of the villagers. Breathing hard Cloud dashed through the broken trail only to slip on it’s dirt crusted floor, falling face first in murky brown water.

Grunting and trying to breath through his mouth he angrily got up on his hands and knees, spitting out the disgusting muddy water that had somehow slipped through his lips. But it had not tasted like normal water, even when mud was mixed in it, it had a tangy strong flavor to it.

“Fuck.”

He uttered as he looked down into the murky water. Taking a shaky hand he rubbed his face trying to get the stuff off before he staggered to his feet. Spitting one last time and trying not to retch to the blood covered ground he went on in a daze. His face still splattered with the combination of blood and mud.

Trying to take everything in but nothing seemed to fit. It was like he wasn’t even there just some stranger coming a cross a less unfortunate individual. Taking pity on them but doing nothing to fix it.

The houses were on fire and people were running, either trying to get water or was just finding their friends and family. But the really peculiar thing was when he noticed no one yelling or screaming out for help. He could see people still alive rushing around but they made hardly a sound.

Were they shocked into silence just as he had felt. Breathing as little smoke as possible Cloud almost reached his home when a dark figure caught his sight lying on the ground.

Making a quick decision he moved forward towards his home until the individual called out his name softly. Snapping his head back to the figure Cloud silently cursed in his head as he ran to the figure, only to see that it was Tifa’s teacher.

“Hey are you alright.” Cloud said lifting the man’s head up.

Lee coughed and choked pointing towards the mountain.

“There... m Tifa there went... there.” Lee said before he passed out.

Cloud grounded his teeth and ran a hand through his dirty hair. Fuck, what was he supposed to do now. Tifa could be up there and in danger. But so could his mom who might not have vacated the house yet.

Getting up Cloud looked at his house in the distance and noticed it had burned only a little, praying his mother was alright Cloud sprinted towards the hill. Not looking back as he turned his back towards the village on fire.

Praying silently that he had made the right decision, relying on the villagers to see to his mother.

Half way there after the blonde had crossed the small bridge connecting to the other side, he met a low class Gremlin monster. Bringing out his sword Cloud charged and hacked the thing in half before moving upward again.

He didn’t have time to fight with worthless monsters right now. And sorely hoped Zack was just up ahead so he could help him defeat whoever did this.

Reaching the old reactor in record time Cloud looked up at the luminous building in front of him. The building itself was black and gray with long gray pipes at the sides digging underground where the energy Mako was.

It looked more like a factory then anything else. The metal door was at least seven feet tall and was currently lying in ruins on the dirt path. It seemed that someone was already here.

Cloud gripped his sword in his white knocked grasp as he silently moved inside the actual building. His other hand instantly going towards the crystal in his shirt, wishing the other blond was with him.

He would have probably made the whole situation less daunting.

Running in he spotted the narrow cat walk and the mako all the way at the bottom. It had always looked like soup to Cloud, with it’s glowing blue and green liquid, constantly swirling and moving back and forth. Like the thing had a mind of its own, choosing its own course and set time.

Once past the cat walk, past the dried encrusted green and brown walls, and into another room Cloud stopped.

The first thing he noticed was a prone body lying on the cold unforgiving stone floor. The next thing he saw that registered in his mind was monsters. There was at least fifty of them in holding tanks, all hooked up to machines.

Cloud snapped out of his thoughts and came back to the present when he heard metal clash with metal. Running the rest of the way to the prone body of Tifa. Cloud sighed in relief when he felt her breath and was about to lift her up when he felt another body crash into him, knocking him off balance, crashing into the floor right next to Tifa.

Struggling to breath Cloud rolled over hacking and clutching at his throat for much needed air. Swinging his head around he instantly got to his hands and knees shakily before looking at the thing that had dropped on him.

It was Zack.

Cloud inhaled sharply and narrowed his eyes at his friends condition. Zack had been stabbed and was now slowly losing blood, watching the liquid seep out around the prone body of his friend. Looking around frantically the blonde tried to locate his sword and get a grip on reality.

But everything came crashing down when he spotted Sephiroth walking casually down the metal steps.

The first thing Cloud wanted to do was jump up and shout for the man’s help. He was so relived he could at least count of the General for help.

That was until the blond fully comprehended what the man was holding. In his left hand, dripping fluids, was a severed head. In the right hand his most prized possession, his sword , all the while smiling like a lunatic.


TBC