Darkness Building [Cloud/Sephiroth]

[Cloud]

As Night Falls

The sun had begun to set in Radiant Garden. Streaks of orange and yellow made their way across the sky as the twilight engulfed the world, and the night grew nearer. It was quite a pretty sight to behold. However, it's beauty went unnoticed by Cloud as he took note of the time. To him it meant the approaching of darkness, something he did not particularly look forward to.

Nighttime had never been something the he had been very fond of. Not since the day the heartless had first attacked... And then, what with the whole Tool of Darkness and the tainting that had occurred... Needless to say, the fear of darkness had not grown any better. The night in and of itself had come to make Cloud feel rather edgy. It was hard to explain why, exactly. Something about it just caused his gloomy disposition to worsen, and him to become somewhat paranoid. Once or twice he could have even sworn he saw...

But he hadn't. As it were, he had yet to come across the silver-swordsman once since the event. He wished he could convince himself that he had seen the last of Sephiroth, but he knew he hadn't. Although he might have been able to hope for this had the tainting never occurred-- just maybe, he had thought, he would be able to finally overcome his darkess-- now that he knew the darkess was steadily growing within him, he would only be lying to himself. Sephiroth would be back eventually. This Cloud was certain of.

No matter how many times I fall, your darkess will keep calling me back.

The light was already beginning to dim; the bright colors losing their intensity. Cloud figured he probably ought to start heading back to the town, and perhaps to Merlin's. Despite the fact that he was officially "back", he had been doing his best to avoid the others recently. Sure, they all wanted to help, particularly Aerith, but there really wasn't anything they could do. And regardless of what Aerith had told him the night after the attack, he still felt that attempting to share his worries with them would only succeed in burdening them. They had their own problems to deal with, after all.

[Administrator]

As Light falls...

A single black feather blew in the wind, falling from a place high in the sky and blowing down low to the ground. Finally, it blew past Cloud, and its owner was made known. It was, of course, the One Winged Angel himself, Sephiroth. He had been about to go on another coffee run--Starbucks was rather addicting--just before, but seeing Cloud here, and being able to feel the waves of fear coming off of him, he instead decided to take the time to manipulate Cloud, just like the good old days.

"You seem afraid, Cloud," Sephiroth said, a note of amusement in his voice. Looking the man up and down, he said, "You seem to have collected a bit more darkness since I last saw you. How does it feel?" Of course, the One Winged Angel was not concerned with Cloud at all, and this was all meant to anger Cloud, in an attempt to cause him to strike out at him. Or, perhaps fuel that fear. Either way, the darkness would grow because of his actions.

Looking around, Sephiroth lowered himself to the ground, the single wing that defied all laws of physics folding behind his back. "Where are your friends now, Cloud?" he asked, motioning at the empty streets. "For all I hear of the supportive nature of the Light, I do not see any of them nearby, quelling your fears. In fact," Sephiroth smiled lightly, as he began to circle Cloud, "I seem to be the only one taking time out of his busy schedule to find out why you seem so afraid. That sounds a mite backwards to me."

Let us see how you conquer the darkness this time, Cloud. It may yet conquer you.

[Cloud]

An Unpleasant Surprise

A small black object fell from the sky, drifting past Cloud's face. He blinked, suddenly snapped out of his deep state of thought. For a moment, he thought he had just imagined what he had just seen. Or maybe it had come from a bird that was flying by. Yeah, that was probably what the current case was. After all, just because there was a black feather decending ominously from above, it didn't necessarily mean that--

Cloud felt a chill ran down his spine as he heard the voice that he had been dreading hearing. Immediately his entire body became very tense: his jaw tightened, his fists clenched, the muscles in his neck became much more prominent. The presence of the One-Winged Angel always brought about a strange combination of fear and raw, uncontrollable anger inside of Cloud. Although the latter did tend to overshadow the former most of the time, it was still there all the same. And somehow Sephiroth was always able to sense it. With great resentment, he turned to face him.

"I'm not afraid of the darkness." he growled. "And I'm definitely not afraid of you." Neither of these statements were even remotely truthful. That was something that Sephiroth likely knew just as well as Cloud did. But either way, that wasn't a piece of information he had any intention of admitting. In one quick motion, he grabbed his buster sword from his back, bringing it down into a defensive position in front of himself.

Sephiroth asked him where his friends were, which only served to earn him an even more violent glare. Cloud didn't like having the man speak about his friends, and his condescending tone was just as infuriating as ever. He had begun to circle Cloud, like a shark swimming around his prey, preparing to attack. Only he wasn't about to become anyone's victim. Instead of replying to his taunts with words (partially because he wasn't sure exactly what to say), Cloud lunged at the silver-haired enemy, attempting to slash straight through him.

[Administrator]

Let the mind-games begin.

"I don't even warrant a hello? That seems backward to me," Sephiroth said as he leapt backward, lightly landing on his feet and avoiding Cloud's attack. The smirk spread across his face almost before the man could think to put it there. Cloud was much more violent than normal, which was saying something. He was extremely violent on the best of occasions, but now, he seemed to be angrier. It seems to me I may have struck a sore spot.

"You're a little angry to not be afraid," Sephiroth said, his wing carrying him into the air. "I know you, Cloud. You become angry when you are afraid." Both he and Cloud knew it to be true, for all Cloud might try to deny it. Of course, the One Winged Angel knew Cloud better than most. He was his darkness, after all. "Cloud, do you fear what they will think of you?" Sephiroth nodded to himself.

"I think you are. You are afraid that if you tell them about your problems, you shall be regarded as a monster." He stared forward, his eyes piercing through Cloud's. "Just. Like. Me. And that is what you fear the most, being likened to me." Sephiroth laughed as he began to circle Cloud again, his arms not even vaguely using threatening motions. "Do you not realize? I am you, Cloud. I am your inner self, your true self. You cannot deny me forever.

"Nor even much longer." Sephiroth stopped and titled his head slightly to the side, a slight smile on his face. "Do not do yourself the disservice of denying yourself this time. I know you fear for them, so why stay near them where you might hurt them?" The One Winged Angel motioned to the sky. "Fly from here, go far away. Keep them safe from yourself, that monster that you and I both know you truly are."

[Cloud]

Nothing But Lies

Cloud's anger seemed to amuse Sephiroth. Naturally, this amusement merely succeeded in further angering Cloud. The observation of his anger was not something he could even pretend to be false though, nor did he really care to. What he wanted was to take another good swing at the one-winged foe with his buster sword, and hopefully be a little more on target that time around. "You don't know me." he replied sharply.

He turned away at the next question, not answering it. His gaze falling to the ground, the anger in his eyes was momentarily overcome by something different: uncertainty; worry. Sephiroth didn't seem to be interested in waiting for an answer, he answered the question himself. Calling Cloud a monster, and claiming him to be exactly like he was. The blond swordsman jerked his head back up, and the rage took back over as the primary emotion visible. "No! I'm nothing like you!"

His hands tightened around the hilt of his sword as Sephiroth continued. Was he honestly trying to convince him of that again? That he somehow was Cloud? That was completely ridiculous... Though he still wasn't sure what the man was, he was sure that couldn't be true. Cloud was no monster... was he? "Shut up!" he yelled, angrier still than he had been. "If I'm becoming a monster, than it's YOUR fault!" Charging at him a second time with greater ferocity, he unleashed string of heavy sword attacks.

[Administrator]

Severe twisting of the mind.

Sephiroth flew higher as Cloud attacked at him, lowering as the threat passed each time. "How typical of you, Cloud, blaming your faults on me. That is the reason why I am separate from you." Perhaps that could shock Cloud into stopping for a moment, and allow more of his words to reach the man's brain. "You needed a scapegoat, someone, something, anything you could blame your dark inner truth on. Someone not you."

Nodding slightly, Sephiroth's face wore a purely false wistful look. "I am only what you make me." Then, he laughed bitterly, another falsification, and continued. "Cloud, whatever did you think 'the manifestation of your darkness' meant? That means I can only be what you have inside of you. Any power I have you give me by strengthening your darkness, by blaming your faults on me."

Laughing, the One Winged Angel shook his head. "I am a monster by creation, by your creation." Holding his hands spread apart, Sephiroth let his single, gravity-defying wing keep him aloft as he continued his twisting of Cloud's mind. "If you deny you are a monster, why do you not go to your friends? If you are a monster, would they not welcome you with open arms, and accept you for who you are?

"But," he continued, a slight smile coming to his face, "they do not, do they? In a little corner of their minds, they wonder about you. They wonder what you are hiding, what you refuse to tell them." Giving a long laugh, Sephiroth pointed at Cloud, saying, "You are the evil one, not I! I am honest about my nature, while you hide yours from them. If they are your friends, why can you not tell them the truth?" Sephiroth lowered himself to the ground slowly. As his feet touched the ground beneath, he slowly walked towards Cloud.

Speaking softly now, the man said, "You cannot tell them because you know, deep down, that they won't accept you. They will revile you. Spurn you. Even try to kill you. And you are too weak to take that."

[Cloud]

Boiling Point

Once again, Sephiroth avoided the sword attack with ease, and continued with his own verbal assault. And what he was saying was more ridiculous yet. Even if he was the embodiment of Cloud's darkness, which-- as much as he didn't like the thought-- was still a possibility, now he was suggesting that his creation had been purposeful. That Cloud had chosen to create him as something to blame his inner darkess on. Yeah, because that was something everyone wanted. An evil, crazed alter-ego who's sole purpose is to corrupt your heart and destroy any hope or happiness you might ever think about having.

"But--" he was interruptted before he could finish what he was saying. Sephiroth continued. He had already mentioned the possibility of Cloud hurting his friends as a result of the darkness within him. This was a painful thought, but one he was well familiar with. It was a worry that often troubled him. What was said next, was a much more surprising blow. Maybe not one that had never slightly crossed his mind, but at least one that he completely tried to forget. The idea that his friends wouldn't accept him if they knew who he truly was, that they would turn from him, that they would hate him...

Perhaps it was selfish, but the possibility of that happening frightened Cloud even more. Although it probably would have seemed a very silly thing to say to them had he said it to one of his friends, somehow Sephiroth made the statement sound entirely plausible, if not solid fact. It was his uncanny ability to get into Cloud's head and convince him of such things at work. Closing his eyes, he brought his had to his head as if he were experiencing a particularly bad headache. "Just... Shut up!" Certainly not the most eloquent response ever, but it was all could think to say.

Opening his eyes, he saw Sephiroth walking towards him. His attacks having quickly become noticeably more and more sloppy, he leapt forward angrily, swinging his blade as hard as he could.

[Administrator]

Shall I give you despair?

It seemed his methods were working on Cloud. Sephiroth could see the effects they were having on his origin's mind, the manipulations twisting him, furthering his inner darkness. The mental manipulation that was going on right in front of his very eyes was just scintillating. "Why do you continue merely attacking me?" The One Winged Angel asked as he dodged to the side of Cloud's sword, pushing it down by the back of it so its momentum sent it crashing towards the earth.

"Why do you not deny what I say?" Sephiroth drew back slightly, giving Cloud a slight amount of space. A small smile drew across his face. "You and I both know it; all I say is the truth." Drawing backwards farther, the One Winged Angel said, "If you think otherwise, then prove me wrong. Tell your little friends the truth, that you are tainted with darkness."

His wing lifting him off of the ground, Sephiroth smirked. "It was nice to see you again, Cloud." Lifting into the air, Sephiroth drew his wing around himself. "Until next time, I bid you farewell. Tell your friends I said hello." And with that last remark, Sephiroth disappeared in a flurry of feathers, the remnants of which blowing away into the wind. Not even the first feather to fall remained.

It was as if they never existed in the first place, and it had all been in Cloud's head...

[Cloud]

Despair

Cloud was sent crashing to the ground by Sephiroth, his sword slipping out of his hand and clanging against the stone just slightly too far out of his reach. This collision did hurt, knocking the breath out of him, but it was still nothing compared to the emotional damage that had already been inflicted on him. The silver-haired man smiled with amusement, mocking him cruely as he spoke his final words. Evidently content that he had caused sufficent despair for the day, he gave his farewell. Lifting into the air, he was consumed by a flurry of black feathers.

And then, just like he had never been there at all, the One-Winged Angel was gone.

Fuming with rage and sinking into despair, Cloud pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He let out an enraged yell, banging his fist onto the hard stone with such force that he thought he heard something in it crack. A sharp pain ran through his hand, but he didn't care. Angry tears began to stream down his face. He just stayed there, seeing no reason to get up. He didn't feel like doing anything really. There was no point.

[Aerith]

Hope

Insomnia had struck again. No matter how she tried to sleep, Aerith could not. Rather than toss and turn in bed for hours, trying to find some position that would magically carry her off to dreamland, she slid out from under the sheets. There was a chill in the air, making the floorboards cold against her bare feet. So, she slipped into her boots and then decided to change into her everyday dress. In all likelihood, she would end up going for a walk, and she didn't want to wander around in her nightgown.

Upon making it downstairs, she headed for her little kitchen and made herself some tea, her own special blend of spices and herbs. But nursing her steaming cup wasn't helping her restlessness, either. She rose from the table and hastily braided her hair into its characteristic style. Then, she walked outside into the night.

She had no particular destination in mind, so she let her feet wander where they would. She would have gone to Merlin's or maybe Leon's, but everyone was probably asleep. And she didn't want anyone else to suffer insomnia with her. Instead, she cautiously made her way toward the outskirts of town, wary of any Heartless that might appear.

Before the thought that everything was unusually peaceful could fully form, she heard the sound of something like rushing wind that quickly died away. But the more important sound to her was the scream that followed.

Cloud?

With purpose now, she ran toward the sound, then abruptly halted when Cloud came into view. He was on the ground, sobbing. His sword lay several paces away from him, but from here, he didn't appear to have any significant injuries. There was no blood. What had happened? Casting a quick glance around, she saw no signs of another person. There was only Cloud and his apparent brokenness welling up to the surface.

Her heart broke at the sight.

She walked toward him, boots barely making a sound against the ground. Normally, it might not have been a good idea to approach someone so emotionally unstable as he was right now without giving advance warning. But since his weapon wasn't easily within reach, she was willing to take the risk of a backlash.

Upon reaching his side, she touched a hand to his shoulder. "Cloud? What's wrong?"

[Cloud]

A Mess

Having not noticed her approach, Cloud was surprised when he felt Aerith's hand on his shoulder and heard her voice. Flinching, he leaned back off of his hands and knees, looking back behind himself to see her concerned face staring down at him. "Aerith..." He turned his head away, hurridly wiping his eyes on his single left sleeve; clearly embarrassed by the circumstances of which she had found him. He sure must have looked pretty pathetic. "It-- it's nothing."

Who was he kidding? Obviously something was wrong. You didn't have to be a genius to tell that much. Well either that or Cloud had lost absolutely all sanity, or however little he had had previously-- at least. And that probably wasn't too hard for her to believe. Now that he thought about it, there really weren't any signs that the recent confrontation between he and Sephiroth had ever occurred at all. The only remaining evidence was his very apparent broken moral.

After considering the option of standing up and deciding against it, mainly on grounds of not feeling like it, Cloud brought his knees in to his chest, placing his crossed arms on top of them. After staring blankly ahead at nothing in particular for a moment, his back still facing Aerith, he finally chose to say something else. Though this small elaboration might have come across and rather unhelpful to most, it likely told her enough to at least partially understand the current situation. "Sephiroth was here."

[Aerith]

No Words Necessary

Typical Cloud, trying to brush off something that had clearly devastated him as nothing. He was far too concerned about keeping everyone else out of his problems. And Aerith wasn't going to stand for that anymore. Part of being a supportive friend also included knowing when to offer stern yet gentle correction. Right now, Cloud needed a lot of correcting from someone who cared deeply about him. Otherwise, he would just sink deeper and deeper into self-inflicted depression.

She watched him shy away from her touch before he moved into a sitting position, knees tucked to his chest. His back was to her, clearly a nonverbal sign that he wasn't willing to talk. Well, she wouldn't take no, verbal or otherwise, for an answer. She would make sure he listened to everything she had to say to him. Though, she would make sure to temper her frustration as much as possible to avoid upsetting him further. He was silent for a long moment, so Aerith took a breath.

Before she could launch into her lecture, Cloud spoke three words that changed her current mindset entirely. Sephiroth was here. That explained it then. Only the One-Winged Angel could have broken Cloud this badly. Darkness was always a threat to Cloud, but Sephiroth was worse. He was personal. All the words she had prepared fell away in that moment, and she did what both instinct and her heart told her to do.

Without saying a word, she approached his back, crouched down, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She could have said something, offered words of encouragement that would more than likely fall weakly on deaf ears. Instead, she just held him, letting him know she was here.

[Cloud]

Monster

Within moments of the last words leaving Cloud's mouth, he heard the quiet sound of Aerith moving closer. The next thing he knew, she had bent down and was wrapping her arms around him. Her skin felt warm on his. It was a little bit surprising that she was saying nothing at all; it seemed that she always had kind words to comfort others with. But her touch was at the very least equal to any words she could give he supposed. Being able to physically feel her right there beside him partially took away the unbearable feeling of being alone that he felt. Still, it was there though.

Deep inside him, beyond the walls that surrounded his heart where he prevented her from reaching. Sephiroth's words still haunted him, reinforcing the walls, strengthening his inner worries that he couldn't truly open up her. To any of his friends. If he did, they would see him as a monster. They likely already did see that way somewhat, and probably wondered about him. True, they were nice to him. Or at least as nice as anyone was to him. But perhaps they just pitied him for what he was. Never really saying anything to him, but they secretly knew what he really was...

After quite a long moment of silence as he sat there thinking, Cloud spoke. "Aerith..." he began softly, pausing considerably before he finally forced himself to continue asking what he had begun to. "do you think that I'm... a monster?" The answer was one that he was dreading hearing, but also one that he felt he needed to hear.

[Aerith]

The Verdict

Aerith had suspected a question like this was coming. For a moment, she didn't move at all, instead continuing to hold him and breathe quietly. Then, she shifted slightly, arms still around his shoulders, and tilted her head to examine the side of his face. After a few seconds of that, she moved to look at the other side of his face for an equal amount of time.

Releasing his shoulders, she gently prodded various areas of his body, his arms, his sides, and his back. She even buried her fingers in his hair, as though searching for some hidden treasure. "Hmm..." Satisfied with her examination so far, she moved around and sat on her knees in front of him. Her fingers poked curiously at his knees, then at his chest, then they brushed against his cheeks.

Finally, she leaned in close to his face, her head tilted to one side as she searched his eyes. She stayed like that for several seconds, then leaned back, hands in her lap. "I don't see anything monstrous about you."

With a confident nod, she moved to his side and laced her arms around one of his. "Sometimes, I wonder where you get these silly notions. I've seen monsters, Cloud. And if you were one, you'd be trying to kill me. Like the Heartless we fight against." She looked up at the sky and smiled. "Besides, if you were a monster, Leon and Yuffie would forbid me to spend any time with you."

[Cloud]

Uncertainty

The silence was deafening. What Cloud had been hoping for was a quick and definite "Of course not!". Regardless of whether or not he would have been very fast to accept it, that's what he had expecting. But instead Aerith remained quiet, seemingly thinking about the question. She leaned forward to look closely at the side of his face, before moving around to the other side to do the same thing. He stared at her with bewilderment. She appeared to be examining him with the utmost of scrutiny. Then, she began poking at him in various spots, which was even more peculiar.

He supposed it was her attempt at being playful, though it didn't succeed in amusing him; he probably couldn't have made himself laugh even if he tried. His bright blue eyes met hers solemnly as he leaned close to him. Finally, apparently content that she had violated his personal space enough, she gave her verdict. Though he had thought he would feel a slight wave of relief at this, the answer still left him unsatisfied. It wasn't like he hadn't really been asking if he looked like a monster. His outwards appearance was the least of his worries.

"But..." Cloud paused thoughtfully, looking down towards the ground. "Is it really always that simple?" How could she be so sure that he wasn't a monster? He wasn't even sure... "I just... don't know."